


Chronicles

by WolfAndHound_Archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Family, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2004-05-21
Packaged: 2018-05-18 13:31:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 318,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5930242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfAndHound_Archivist/pseuds/WolfAndHound_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Swiss-Verse" - Taking up where 'A Year In Switzerland' ends...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Shock and Waking Up from it

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Lassenia, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Wolf and Hound](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Wolf_and_Hound), which was created to make stories posted to the Sirius_Black_and_Remus_Lupin Yahoo! mailing list easier to find. However, even though I still love the fandom, I am no longer active in it and do not have the time to maintain it. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in December 2015. I posted an announcement with Open Doors, but we may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Wolf and Hound collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/wolfandhound/profile).

31.10.1981 / 4.11.1981 / 20.8.1998 / Lily

Oh no!!! He's found us! But that means he's found Peter! Oh gods, Peter, what has he done to you? Are you alive at all? I can hear James scream for me to take Harry and run. I'm up in the nursery in a second and pick up a sleeping Harry, who now protests as loudly as he can. I hold him tightly to my chest, to muffle his cries and try to get to the back door, but there he is. Oh, he's evil! I beg for my baby's life, offer him mine, but I'm sure he'll take mine anyway. I quickly cast the "mater protectas" spell on Harry and tell Voldemort to spare Harry, to take MY life instead! He'll still try to get at my son, but he'll be in for a surprise, the bloody...

"Avada Kedavra!" 

Everything slows down! I know my eyes are widened by my fear and the green flash of light hits me as I turn around to protect Harry from it. 

What's this? Everything around me is white? I'm supposed to be dead, not thinking anymore, am I not? Do witches and wizards die differently from everyone else? But I'm all alone. I can sense James near me, but I can't see him in all this blinding light. 

"James?" I try to call tentatively.

I'm not sure anything came out. I walk around in this white nothingness. When I get tired I lie down. It's strange, because I can't feel anything beneath me, nothing above me, nothing around me. Just white, but when I close my eyes I fall asleep and I still sense James near me.

When I wake up it's the same. Everything is white, but the sensation of James somewhere near is still there. I notice I'm not hungry nor thirsty. I feel myself and touch myself. Strange. It feels solid.

"James!" I call. Louder.

I'm getting tired very fast here. I don't know what it is, but when I wake up the next time I know James is near though I still can't see him. This time I can hear his call:

"Lily! Lily! I know you're around, I can feel you!"

"James, I'm here, I can feel you, too. All I see is white!"

"Yes, it's the same for me. I've found you, oh, Lily, that makes everything alright. But what's this nothingness?"

"I have no idea..."

We're still wondering about this "nothingness" when all of a sudden something disturbs the white. I wouldn't have believed that anything could be more beaming white, but this being is. I don't know if it's a he or a she, so I think it might rather be an "it". It approaches us and I have to close my eyes.

"What's this?" I hear James ask.

"This is where all souls arrive when they are passing on. You have to decide where to go from here. You have both been murdered, so it is up to you to move on or not."

"Do you mean to leave all behind us? What happens to us?" I ask.

"If you decide to move on you will feel and know nothing anymore. Your soul just vanishes in peace."

"And if we aren't ready to move on?" James asks hesitantly.

"Then your path will be to return as ghosts forever."

James looks at me. I don't see it, but I can feel his glance. Ghosts! That would force us to stay together forever! We could help our baby! James seems to think the same thing.

"Do we have some time to think about it?" I ask.

"You do. But be aware that while you're here for every minute you spend here, a day passes by on earth."

Shock! So much time must have passed already and when I got my senses back together I ask:

"Oh Merlin! How long has it been since we have been killed?"

"Four days and 40 minutes. Almost seventeen years have passed on earth."

"We must see Sirius and Remus! We must see how they are," James exclaims.

"Yes. We must help them if we can!" I agree.

"So be it! You are freed from this ante-room as of now!" the being tells us.

Then everything is black for a moment. I don't know how much time has passed by, but when I come around I can see James. Finally! We're both wearing our comfortable daywear robes, warm socks and nothing else, but it doesn't matter it seems. I reach out my hand and touch James. He smiles. I can feel him! Immediately James pulls me into a hug and for a moment we just hold each other tightly. Then we slowly look around. We're in a room, which looks like a very nicely furnished Muggle living room. Only one person sits on the sofa, in front of a coffee table and when I look closer, I can see it's Remus.

"Remus!" I call softly.

"Moony!" James says at the same time.

He looks up and his eyes widen. 

"James! Lily! No, this can't be real! You're dead!"

James moves closer and sits down next to Remus. He smiles the broadest smile I've seen him smile since Harry was born! 

"Moony! Yes, we're dead, but we just couldn't move on. We're ghosts!"

"James! Prongs, how could you? You'll be ghosts forever now!"

"Sounds good to me if I can be together with Lily forever, old boy!"

"Oh my goodness! I'm so happy to see you two! This is incredible! After all these years, oh I think I'll have to go and wake up Padfoot! Harry isn't home tonight, he went out with Hermione, oh I don't know what to do next, I'm so excited!"

"Moony! Cool it, Remus, please, we need to know! You say, Harry is alive?" James asks. 

I notice that I haven't had time to tell him about the "mater protectas" spell. So it has actually worked. 

"Yes, he's alive and well... How much do you know?" Remus suddenly asks.

"Remus, just hold yourself together for a moment," I tell him, "Because we need to explain what just happened. Okay?" 

"Yes, please do. Or do you want me to go and get Padfoot? He went to sleep already, it's almost midnight and he has... oh, we'll tell you about that later, first we want to bring you up to speed and hear what happened to you. Shall I get him?"

"Oh, please do, Moony!"

"I'll be right back."

I have some time to look around. The room has a door to the left, which seems to lead into a study and a door to the right, through which I can see another room furnished like a living room. I get up and throw a glance into the study. There are two desks, two armchairs and a coffee table and all the walls are lined with bookcases. Two windows in each room look very homey with white curtains, held together at the bottom, leaving a triangle of the window open. Coloured curtains line the windows. 

After a few minutes Remus brings Sirius into the room. He obviously hasn't told Siri what he has to expect, because the moment Sirius sees us he cries out:

"James? Lily? What the hell..."

"Padfoot! I'm so glad to see you!" James calls and rushes to give Siri a big hug.

Totally amazed Sirius returns the hug though it must feel for him like hugging air and moves on to me. Then, when we have calmed down just a bit, he says:

"Well, this is going to be a long night, I suppose."

"Yes, I think so, too. Tea, love?" Remus asks.

So they're still together. That really pleases me. And the hint that Harry has gone out means Harry is with them. Just like we wanted. I'm very happy to hear that. Once the tea is on the table, not that James and I can drink any, but the smell is lovely!, we start to explain. I tell them what happened, and that I've been able to cast the protection spell I had found a while ago on Harry.

"So, THAT's what it was," Remus says, "And then?"

"Well, then I just remember the killing curse cast on me. I turned around and it hit me from behind. And then there was nothing but white."

I relate the explanations of that being and how time passed so much faster there.

"So, if I understand this right, to your understanding you have died only four days and a few hours ago?" Remus asks.

"Exactly."

"Then you know nothing of what happened after you were killed?" Sirius asks.

"No, nothing at all. I'm sure Voldemort must have tried to kill Harry, but you telling me that Harry is here tells me that my protection spell worked and the curse must have been diverted..."

"...right back to Voldemort," Remus says with a grin.

"Really? And what happened then?" James asks.

"Well, then he was almost dead. Don't know if he could have been killed outright then, but I suppose not, because he's made a very strong spirit out of himself. But he was gone. Couldn't cast a spell anymore if his life depended on it. Most people thought he was really gone completely," Remus explains.

"But you didn't?"

"No, I was among those who thought he just fled somewhere to nurture himself and maybe wait for the help of his Death Eaters. Only THEY were mostly glad he was actually gone."

"Oh. And what happened with Harry? You took him, like we wanted, didn't you, Siri?"

My eyes get wide when I see the change in his face and posture. It seems that everything had not gone smooth. He then looks up to me and I can see tears in his eyes. Then he shakes his head sadly and starts to talk:

"No. No, unfortunately not, Lily. How do you think Voldemort knew where to find you?"

"He must have found out about Peter and tortured him," I said. 

Then I remember that we wondered what happened to Peter! I'm anxious to hear what went on. 

"Again, unfortunately not, Lily. Peter did not need to be forced to tell the secret. He was the spy," Remus says almost soundlessly. 

James and I look at each other. Now everything starts to make sense and I start to understand why we have been attacked so soon after the Fidelius had been cast. I stare back at Sirius, because now I remember that no one knew about the switch, not even Albus Dumbledore. I dread what I'm going to hear...

"I made the one great mistake in my life apart from switching with Peter. I went after him. I got to see Godric's Hollow and when I found your bodies, Hagrid was there already and he had Harry. I didn't realise then why, but I asked to take Harry, since I'm his godfather and you wanted him to be with Remus and I, but he said no, Dumbledore had given him other orders and he wouldn't do anything else. Told me that I had to go talk to Dumbledore myself. I should have realised that this was the first thing I should have done! But I was so blind with sadness, anger and hatred, that I went in search of Peter. He fooled us! Gods, Lily, James! He must have been jubilant the day he was able to tell Voldemort where to find you! By that time Wormtail had been a Death Eater for about a year already!"

I bite my lower lip. I can't really believe it, but then I could even less believe that the spy had been Remus when Sirius and James discussed it two weeks ago. Sirius didn't know for sure of course, but he said that Remus had been gone so often.

"...The moment Peter transformed I knew I was framed. And realised that no one knew about the switch. Crouch didn't even let me speak up and say anything, he had me taken to Azkaban straight away without so much as a hearing, let alone a trial. Albus' word that I was your Secret Keeper had been enough proof for them that I was guilty," Sirius says with an almost broken voice.

Remus puts an arm around Siri and asks:

"Want me to take over, darling?"

Sirius nods and stares at his feet. If he's been sent to Azkaban, I don't really want to know what he had to endure. He's the last person who belongs there. Cheerful, loving Sirius, it's just simply unbelievable. My heart goes out to him and I can't wait to hear what Remus has to say about how things went on.

In the course of the next two hours they tell us in detail what happened. That Harry had been taken to Pets and Vernon. To my sister and her good-for-nothing husband above all people! Oh, if I see Dumbledore again he'll hear something from me!!! 

"They didn't treat him well. Oh, they didn't beat him or anything, but they abused him verbally. They used him to do all sorts of chores for them while their own son was let off with anything he wanted to have or do. They never gave him anything nice, never fed him properly. The only things he had they took away and just kept him in the cupboard under the stairs," Remus says.

Oh my poor, poor baby! Harry, I'm so sorry! I'm starting to cry and James holds me close, but I know he's close to crying himself. Our wonderful little boy, Harry, who has made us smile from the first day, who only cried for food or fresh nappies, Harry, my little soul, mistreated by my own sister! I can't stop crying. This is too much. Sirius in Azkaban and Harry at my sister's. Can it come any worse than that?

"Of course they never told him a word about being a wizard. His magic started to show while he was in primary school and they punished him for every 'funny business' that happened. According to Harry they banned every word from their language that had anything to do with magic. His cousin's eleventh birthday was a milestone. The Dursleys hadn't been able to hand Harry to Arabella and had to take him along for a visit at the zoo. In the reptile house Harry looked at a python who had been motionless when Dudley and his friend looked at it, but it came to the glass when Harry was there and spoke to Harry!"

My jaw drops. Harry a Parselmouth? Where could he have that from? 

"Yes, he's a Parselmouth. Albus thinks that when the curse rebounded to Voldemort it gave them a connection and Harry added some of Voldemort's powers to his own considerable magical power. Anyway, after he spoke to the snake the other boys saw it, pushed him aside so he landed on his bum and the other stood before the window. And Harry's anger made the glass window vanish," Remus says.

James, who has calmed down from the shock of our son being a Parselmouth, snickers.

"Served him quite right, I suppose."

"Yes, of course, but of course it also brought Harry into bad trouble. He was locked into the cupboard for a long time and only let out for school. They half starved him, James! It's a miracle he survived that family's treatment of him. Finally it was time for his Hogwarts letter and of course they kept it from him. But Albus had expected trouble in getting hold of Harry because Arabella had warned him about their attitude. So he had tons of letters sent to Harry's house. Dursley took his family and fled. Must have gone barmy, the fat whale," says Sirius, who takes over again.

"So Harry got his letter?"

"Only after Hagrid had been sent after them. He found them in a miserable shack on a rock in the ocean! Explained to Harry what he was and that he was taking him to shop for his school stuff for Hogwarts. Gave him the letter and took him. Harry had to stay there for a whole month more, but he made it to Hogwarts."

I sigh. At least one thing that went well.

"Only to find that he was famous for having vanquished the Dark Lord when he was no more than a baby," Remus continues, "The Defence teacher was a Quirrell, you know them, all of them brilliant and all of them in Slytherin. Well, this one seemed to be afraid of his own name, but it was all just a farce. He carried Voldemort's spirit with him! Dumbledore didn't know. But he'd been warned that someone was after Flamel's Philosopher's Stone and he had Hagrid bring it to Hogwarts to protect it there."

Then we hear the story of how Harry met his two friends, one is a Weasley, which pleased both James and me equally, and one is a Muggle-born girl, Hermione Granger, and how they got through their first year. We hold our breaths a few times. Sirius tells us the story with some help from Remus and they both sound so proud. James and I look at each other and smile.

"That's our son, Lily," James says, "He turned out well!"

"Got to play as a Seeker for the Gryffindor team in his first year, James!" Sirius says proudly.

"What? I didn't even make it in before my third!!! Yay! Go, Harry! Did he do pranks?" James asks with a gleam in his eyes.

"Well, not really. He's got more of Lily than of you in that department. Besides he couldn't play pranks, since life continued to be hard on him. Voldemort didn't just stop, even if there was another break in his activities. The next attack came from the Dursleys though. To punish him for something that happened during the summer break after his first year they locked him into the room he had, added iron bars to the window so Hedwig couldn't get out and a crazy house-elf got hold of the letters from his friends in an attempt to prevent him from going back to Hogwarts and right into the danger he thought Harry would be in if he went. But by that time Hogwarts really meant everything to Harry. And luckily he meant everything to Ron Weasley. He and his older twin brothers Fred and George managed to get him out of Number four, Privet Drive and brought him to the Burrow. Molly was the first to actually become something like a mother to Harry."

If I had thought the tale of Harry's first year was bad, then I was shocked to hear what happened in his second year. And even more about what happened in his third, in spite of the fact that I was most pleased to hear Remus had become a teacher at Hogwarts. I just know he's the right person for this job! Then they relate the whole story of Remus' first meeting with Sirius after almost thirteen years. I hold my breath when Sirius says Remus transformed and Peter was able to get away. But James and I are immensely proud to hear that Harry saved his own, as well as Hermione's and Siri's life with his Patronus! That he helped win the Quidditch Cup, that he helped Sirius get away from Hogwarts!

The most horrific story still waits for us as Sirius starts to tell us about Harry's fourth year. Triwizard Champion at fourteen!!! Oh goodness, what else? The tasks sound horrible! But they're nothing compared to the ordeal Harry must have gone through meeting a re-born Voldemort. Again, I can only cry out for my baby.

At that moment there's a slight crack and a bell rings. Sirius and Remus start to smile.

"Sounds like they're back. - Harry! Hermione! Could you come in here for a moment?" Remus calls.

They come into the front room and I can throw a quick glance on my son before he sees us. Oh, but he's handsome! He looks almost like James! The girl looks lovely. Light brown hair, plaited to a thick braid on her back, brown eyes. They are holding hands and I can see they are wearing rings. Are they engaged? Eighteen years old. They are really fine looking young people. James and I get up, so do Siri and Remus. Harry freezes in the door when he sees us. I can feel James' arm around me as we watch them both. Hermione hasn't noticed anything amiss yet and walks on inside, pulling Harry along.

"We have some visitors. And they plan to become part of our household," Sirius says with a smile.

Harry's eyes widen. I can see he's completely shocked, so I say:

"Hello, Harry! I'm sorry it took us so long to get back to you, but we couldn't just leave you all alone!"

Then he opens his mouth:

"Mum? - Dad?"

I go to him and he finally lets go of Hermione's hand. I touch him and when he notices he can touch me as well, he does and I can feel his hug and even though he won't feel a pulse from me I can feel his heart beating.

"Oh, my baby!" I sob, "I'm so sorry you had to go through all this, and it's all my own fault!"

Oh, but he's so grown, so tall now! 

"Mum! MUM! No, Mum, no, it's never been your fault, it's only Voldemort's! Please, Mum!" he cries.

But he holds on to me tightly and I can't let him go. I don't even notice James, who's right behind me. Then I finally do let go and say:

"Harry, I can't really grasp all this, just a few days ago you've been a baby in my arms, now I see you - fully grown, I really don't understand it yet, but know that I've loved you from the day I knew you would come. James often joked I loved you more than I did him, but that's not true. I love you just as much and totally differently..." I babble now. 

I feel James' arms around me again. He looks at Harry, who's about the same height as his father and smiles. 

"I have missed all of your childhood, Harry, and I can't even express how sorry I am about that. But I see you did find people who love you and this looks like a real home."

Now Harry starts to smile. I really like this smile and he's calming down enough that we can return to sit down. He looks at James and me and says simply:

"I missed you both. So much! I never remembered the feeling of being held or loved. Only very deep down I knew you once loved me. Only when I got to Hogwarts I finally felt at home somewhere. There and at the Burrow with the Weasleys. Do you know them?"

"Yes. From the Order..." James says, "Do you know about the Order?"

"Oh, yes. We're members now, both of us and all of our classmates. How much else do you know? And what happened to you both? And, oh, I'm so sorry, how about I introduce you to my love? This is Hermione Granger-Potter, Mum!"

Again, my jaw drops. James' as well and when I look around I see Remus and Sirius snicker. They aren't engaged, they're married? But they can barely be out of school yet!

"Pleased to meet you, Hermione. Do please call us Lily and James," James says and hugs our daughter-in-law.

I'm still unable to say much. I just follow and hug her as well. She looks like a very nice girl, though she hasn't said a word yet.

"It's so good to be able to speak to you both! Harry has wanted to know you all his life and he's always been so sad about being an orphan. He loved you so much, even though you weren't there anymore," she says.

"I'm very happy to meet you, Hermione. What a lovely name you have! It's nice to come back and have another child all of a sudden!" I finally manage.

They both smile. We all settle down again and Harry asks again:

"So how much do you know?"

"Sirius and Remus have brought us up to speed until the end of your fourth year. Voldemort is really back?" James asks.

"Was!" Hermione says and smiles at Harry.

"Well, let us continue with the saga," Remus butts in and tells us about the Dursleys throwing Harry out and how he got a fugitive and an orphan to hide and Albus' idea to bring them to Switzerland.

"And that's how we landed in this house. After only two weeks here in Switzerland, we were just going to furnish the house, Albus turned up bringing Hermione, Ron and Ginny Weasley and informing us that after a Death Eater attack on both their families he thought it was best to hide them here also. He asked Sirius and I to take over their fifth year tutoring. Ginny is a year younger, so we had to bring her up to speed in a short time, so she could follow the fifth year syllabus, which she managed admiringly. Hermione had a lot to do with helping her. She practically taught her friend all the Transfigurations, Charms and Potions material. I worked her through Defence. By the time school started in September we had the house done with a lovely classroom in the middle part, but had received seven students more, all fifth years, from all four houses. The back of the house, which contained the stables was remodelled to bedrooms on three floors. A gallery above the classroom contains the entire Hogwarts library and one floor up is a large common room. After three months two more students joined us, bringing the class to thirteen."

"We had a super great time with Padfoot and Moony as our teachers. We all loved them to bits and were rewarded with tons of OWLs at the end of fifth year. We were still in danger, so we all remained here. But we were allowed to invite our parents for a while during summer and went for lots of outings, hikes, short trips," Hermione says and her eyes gleam.

"And I fell in love with my bookworm," Harry says with a grin, "Hermione's been the class genius. She's been top of the year every year and she's beaten even Voldemort's record with twelve outstanding OWLs. And of course she's made twelve perfect NEWTs as well."

"Wow! Well done!" James compliments.

"Thank you. He's exaggerating as usual. But it's true, we got together so easily. And then in November of our fifth year Wormtail turned up. We were able to catch him and have him brought to the Ministry, where they questioned him and tried him in January. Siri was finally free!"

James and I look over to Sirius. That's why he looks so at ease now. He smiles and looks at Harry and Hermione with so much love in his eyes I want to kiss him! Harry follows my glance and says:

"Mum, Dad, I just want you to know that Siri has been like my real father for me. I love him as much as I love you both and I can safely say the same goes for Remus. They've made us a real home here and once I lived here for a few weeks I knew I'd never known what a home was before."

"I'm very glad about that, Harry. We wanted you to love them as much as you love us! So many times Remus and Sirius turned up at Godric's Hollow and threw Lily and I out just to be able to baby-sit you! Some people called us bad parents for going out so often, but you had the greatest of time with the two of them. Proof was that much to my dismay your first word was Moony," James tells Harry.

He smiles and nods.

"Sirius told me about that."

"What did you mean, Voldemort WAS back, Hermione?" I ask.

"He tracked down Severus one and a half years ago. Someone had given away the secret that Severus was spying for the Order and he had to flee. Only they blocked his way back to Hogwarts, so he came here. He didn't know he could be tracked down through his Dark Mark, but the next morning, shortly after Albus had arrived, Voldemort turned up with his cronies. A dozen or so of them. By then we already had Wormtail, Malfoy and an Auror had killed Bellatrix. He couldn't get through our wards. Albus allowed Harry to have one shot at him, they had the Invisibility Cloak and Albus can make himself invisible, so they got close to the Death Eaters, took several of them down and finally had a go at Voldemort together. Killed him. Albus managed to kill the spirit. So he's gone for good now," Sirius says coolly.

"Phew! And the rest of the Death Eaters?"

"The Ministry has been cleansed quite thoroughly. There's a rumour that Fudge finally retires. Probably before someone actually gets up and makes him..."

All of a sudden there's an interruption. From somewhere I hear something like a faint little cry. Sirius is up in a moment and says:

"Just a moment, I'll be right back."

I'm puzzled. It sounded almost like a.... baby? I look at Remus. He starts to grin. Then James asks:

"What was that? If I didn't know the two of you are gay I'd say that was a baby! Are you baby-sitting?"

Remus laughs.

"Oh, we're baby-sitting alright. But what you just heard was either little Dennis Black or little Seraina Lupin."

"What?" I can't but ask, totally baffled.

"Sirius and I made a 'rash' decision last year and four months ago, on the 25th April, our twins were born. A young witch carried them to term for us. Sirius has a son, I have a daughter."

"Oh, this is sweet, Remus! May I see them?" I ask.

"Yes, why not? - Then it's time to go to bed anyway. How do you two rest?"

"No idea!" James says and grins, "it's still so new to us, you know!"

"Okay, so I suggest you might take one of the rooms in the back of the house, there's enough free space. I'll show you there after you've seen the twins."

"Thanks."

We follow Remus up a staircase and then into a room, which looks like a nursery. It has a door to the bedroom. Sirius holds a baby on his arm and gently rocks it. He smiles when he sees the two of us. 

"Come in," he whispers.

Then he holds the baby up and says:

"It's Seraina. She starts teething. That's why I was in bed already, I'm the one who has this nightshift. She wakes up so often, and we have to be quick or she wakes Dennis. It's easier to just soothe one baby back to sleep than having two crying."

"Oh, she's so cute! Remus! She does come after you!"

"Very much. After the insemination we used a spell to overrule the mother's traits and give them mostly ours. Bit on the edge of legality, but we wanted to have them like us, not a stranger. It also helps to keep the privacy of the surrogate mother."

I don't dare to ask to take her. Even though I could hug Harry, I wouldn't want to drop this little one, but oh, how I long to take her from Sirius' arms. She's sleeping again and she's just so cute. He nods for the second crib in the room, which holds his son. He's only lightly covered with a baby blanket, as it's warm in the room. That's a carbon copy of our Padfoot. Little Dennis looks unperturbed in his sleep by the commotion. James is equally moved and pleased to see the two children. He looks over to Remus and Sirius and whispers:

"You don't even have an idea how seeing these babies makes me happy! We'll all leave a legacy now! I hope you have as much fun with them as I've had with Harry, for what little time I had with my son."

Remus hugs James.

"Thanks, James. You'll see a lot of Harry in the years to come and even though you're ghosts now, it will be great to have you around and to share laughter and a few tears with you again!"

And then it's really time to go to sleep. We don't want to steal any of their time to rest, they need it with the twins. Remus shows us a room, prepares it and says:

"This is our guest room. However you rest - it's yours to use when you need it."

"Thanks, Remus. That's just fine!" I say.

"Thanks, Moony! I'm sure we'll be perfectly fine in here. We need to find out a lot about that funny state of ours now."

"You'll do well, Prongs. It's so good to have you back! This is one of the happiest days in our lives after the birth of the twins and Harry's and Hermione's wedding three weeks ago."

"We want to see photos and hear more stories tomorrow!" James reminds Remus.

Remus smiles.

"We have tons! At least from the last three years. You'll enjoy them, because we've had happy times. Oh, and don't be astonished if it should get a bit crowded here, some of our students have decided to stay here until they find something of their own, a job or are out of their further studies. They apparate a lot!"

"Great! That sounds fun!"

Once we're lying down I don't remember anything until the next day, which is filled with more stories and lots of photos. We get to meet the other inhabitants of the house. And I find out that I can lift the babies. I just had to pick them from the cradle so nothing would happen if I couldn't have done it.


	2. Wedding Bells!

**25.7.1998 / Harry**

Well, that's it, folks! We've done it. All we can do now is wait for the results. 'Mione and I are already registered at Avalon Academy. We'll start our university courses on September 1st and until then we will do really nothing. 

Did I say we'll do nothing? We've got a wedding planned and we've got a load of work on preparing for it, how could I think we'd do nothing? That preparation work starts to get on the nerves of both of us and we get a bit snappish at times. I'm glad that we have the location. Hogwarts grounds. We have the person to perform the wedding, which was very hard to decide, so in the end we wanted them both: Remus and Sirius. We have our best man and maid of honour. We have the guest list and we have replies from those who will attend. We don't want anything public, so there will be a Fidelius charm over the area during the whole wedding. The Secret Keeper will be Professor McGonagall. All of the people we have invited will be there, no one said they couldn't make it. We're most pleased about that and apparate to Hogsmeade to talk with Professor McGonagall about the seating arrangements. She asks how we would like the setting decorated. Hermione suggests a few things, which sound very nice to me. I gladly leave this part to the ladies anyway.

Then we have a very serious talk about the wedding traditions in wizarding weddings. We gather ideas and traditions from all the adult wizards we know and make a list from which we choose what we'd like to have for our ceremony. Another hard decision. It seems that wizarding weddings aren't religious. They're a very touching ceremony, but it's all about the relationship that the bride and groom have and about binding them together in a magical bond. There are about twenty bonding spells and we have to choose from them. We sit together with Remus and Sirius and ask them for advice.

"Which one or which ones should we choose?" Hermione asks.

"Basically don't choose anyone that could hurt one of you if you ever want to separate," says Remus.

That eliminates six of them. The remaining spells are quite different. Some put more weight on the fidelity, others more on the fertility and some others more on the health. Remus tells us that usually the couple chooses a combination of three of them. 

"You probably haven't heard of many divorces in the wizarding world. That's partly because of those spells. If one of your bonding spells contains the fidelity part then you are much more aware of the needs of your partner and you will be enabled to react to that need. Both of you. The performer of the wedding will cast those spells on both of you and since we'll be two of us you might be careful, because they might turn out stronger if both of us cast them. Or you decide you want only one of us to cast them, of course."

Decisions, decisions. It seems to never end. Every night in bed we still discuss subjects that have to do with that blasted wedding. The catering is the smallest problem. We've talked with the house-elves at Hogwarts who really would be miffed if they weren't allowed to cook the dinner and bake the cake, so all we have to do is give them a list of the dishes we'd like to eat. Hermione of course is worried that we take some of their time to recuperate from the school year, but luckily one of them tells her to stop that and just enjoy the food she'd be getting and that they were so honoured to procure the wedding dinner for Mr. and Mrs Potter. She promises each of them ten galleons as an extra gift and thank you for their work and insists on it. They only accept when she threatens them to have a caterer from somewhere else altogether. 

But in spite of the preparations for the wedding we have a wonderful time. Mid-July we get our results and we're all happy with ours. Everyone from our group has done very well again. No one is astonished that Hermione's scores are the highest again. She has a reputation to uphold. We're feeling quite accomplished in any case. Draco invites Parvati, Blaise and Padma to an extended holiday in France. They will be back for the wedding. 

When 1st August finally draws near we get a bit skittish and only the final fitting of Hermione's robes, which I'm of course not allowed to see calms my soon to be wife down. 

In between all of the preparations are Remus and Sirius who have to take care of their little ones. Seraina and Dennis are really cute. Dennis is a bit more lively, but I suppose that would be Siri's son! We have decided that Ginny and I would be godparents to Seraina and Hermione and Ron would be godparents to Dennis. I really love those two little buttons, as they are sweet and cuddly and I don't think that apart from sleeping with my lover there could be anything nicer than having a baby on one's arm. Seraina is so tiny, but she's growing as fast as her brother. I'll spoil these children rotten! Let Siri and Remus fix it through their parenting, I'll take the liberty of spoiling them. When I tell Remus and Sirius about that they grin and Sirius says:

"That's why children have grandparents and godparents, you know. We know we're the unpleasant guys who will have to say 'no' all the time. You go ahead and be the nice guy! But let me warn you. Once you have some of your own turnabout is fair game!" 

He's really grown up! But we do baby-sit them so that Remus and Sirius get time for an extra nap or a shopping trip or simply to send them to go out sometimes. They haven't had anything of that sort in the past three years apart from that weekend in Montreux and their vacation in France last year. They are most thankful for that, too. So we all have our lessons in changing nappies and feeding the twins. It's all much easier than I thought and whoever thought a baby was made from glass is an idiot. They are quite solid actually and apart from taking care that their little heads are held up well we can play around with them quite nicely. Both love baths. Seraina loves singing. By the end of July she smiles at me when I hum a melody, regardless how off-key it may sound. She looks me straight in the eyes and smiles. What a wonderful feeling to be recognised now! Laying down she can turn from the back to the side and her tummy easily now and she looks up and grabs things. Siri says it's because her eyes are developing now, they get stronger and each day she can see a bit farther. Seraina's eyes are a velvety brown, very much like Hermione's. She has a shock of very light brown hair. I can't stop looking at her tiny hands and feet. One afternoon I'm giving her the bottle outside and when Hermione sits down next to me I look over to her for a moment and say:

"That's what expects us soon, my love."

"I'm glad for these two here, though. It helps us be a bit patient until we've finished our studies."

"Wouldn't it be fun if ours would be able to go to Hogwarts with them? Think of McGonagall's horror of having a Black, a Potter and a Lupin there at the same time again!"

She laughs.

"That's true! But who knows, I wouldn't put it past them that they produce a second batch in a few years. It will still be fun then!"

I have to laugh, too. Oh, Hermione, if you knew how much this little one makes me long for one of my own. If the feeling of holding this one who's my godchild, is so good, how much better will it be to hold my own on my arms? Every time I see Sirius or Remus lift one of them up I can see so much love in their eyes that I almost want to cry. I know it's maudlin, but it's how it makes me feel. 

Back to the wedding. The plans are finished, the preparations almost done, Ron and Ginny are VERY secretive about some schemes of their own, I bet they are going to put us to shame badly, but what the heck, it should be fun. There are moments I curse this wedding, but then there are those moments when I can't wait! It's not even so much the thought of the knot that will be tied. Even with those bonding spells I think they cannot "make" a bond that isn't there already. I will believe that they enhance a bond though. I'm looking forward to the whole thing and I'll just take it as it comes.

**31.7.1998**

Finally a quiet birthday, no party, just quietly sitting together and having fun. The twins, Draco and Blaise tell us about their holidays. We share a few bottles of wine and a large plate with a large selection of cheese and things. Hermione has been to the bakery in Lützelflüh to get a lot of really nice flûtes. The crunchy bread, a bit of olive oil with loads of pressed garlic inside, the cheese, the wine and the good company make for one of the nicest birthdays so far. I have decided that I'm too grown for silly gifts now, the gift of the friendship and the time my friends spend with me is much more important. 

Mandy is back after having left her parents for good. She's moved back into her room and will apparate to her job at the ministry, which will start on August 3rd. Remus has told her to get in contact with Amos Diggory who was glad to get someone who wanted to work at his department and so she got a job at the Werewolf Registry. She'll be working in the Support Unit. Blaise and Padma have come back from Padma's parents. Padma is also moving on to Avalon Academy with Hermione and I, she'll have her major in Transfiguration though. Parvati is going to St. Mungo's as a healer apprentice and Draco has already started to do something with the Weasley twins. Funny, that Draco has found the Weasley twins, but ever since we've been to the Aquamare together they are tossing around ideas after ideas for some crazy scheme. They seem to enjoy themselves a lot with those plans. If it makes any sense, Draco will back the twins up financially and will join them to work on the project. He doesn't need to work anyway, but he isn't as blasé anymore to just do nothing anymore. Morag wants to work herself through Muggle schooling, so she can teach at the Hogsmeade primary school. She's started a course through correspondence. She says it's fun. Blaise is going to come to Avalon Academy, too, he's in for Charms and so is Ernie. Ginny will also join us at the Academy, she wants to go for Charms and Potions. Justin and Ron have successfully applied for the Auror training. Lastly Neville has found a job as a herbologist at a wizarding gardening company in Hogsmeade. 

So tonight is really a conversation about our prospects, about how we think we're going to build up our lives. We all have plans and Remus keeps encouraging us to make plans. He says the world will not stop turning if we change plans on the way as opportunities or situations may demand, but that we need to have ideas and goals to reach. For the next four years Hermione and I will learn a lot. Probably a whole lot of very old and rather cryptic stuff, but I'm actually looking forward to it. And to what I might get done better.

We will all apparate to Hogsmeade and fly over to Hogwarts on our brooms early tomorrow morning. Siri and Remus have their apartment prepared, I will get dressed in their bedroom, while Hermione gets dressed in the guest room. Winky will look after the twins for the time Sirius and Remus will be occupied with the ceremony. We are terribly nervous. But we've talked it all through. I didn't want a rehearsal, because I think this is something we want to experience firsthand, not scheduled to the last second. Who cares if the party isn't ready at exactly one o'clock? Who cares if the cake is rolled in two minutes early? No one. Hermione and I want a day that's important to both of us, not a perfectly choreographed stiff affair. We want our families and friends to accompany us to our life as a married couple and give us the start we all need: built on love, fun, friendship and happiness. 

During the evening I drift in and out of the discussions. I turn to Hermione and ask her:

"Do you want us to walk up to the castle together tomorrow morning or do you think we should take the brooms?"

"The weather is supposed to be nice, so why not walk?" she says. 

"Walk it is then. Afterwards we'll be off right away anyway..."

We plan to come and pick up our prepared luggage from here and immediately apparate to a wizarding resort in Fiji. We'll have two weeks for ourselves down there and should have a nice trip around as well as loads of time of lounging about on the beach. 

But we're not there yet, I have to remind myself. Just before midnight I suggest we both go to bed. 

"Yes, that's probably a good idea," she says. 

We have discussed whether we want to spend the night apart, but have decided against it. I'm in no mood for drugging myself before my wedding, which is why I also forewent a stag night, and we see it no different from any other night. We are both quite tired though, so falling asleep is no problem. Both our wedding dress robes are already at Hogwarts, Remus and Sirius have already taken the twins there and will be waiting for us when we arrive. The others will apparate shortly before the ceremony is to start at one o'clock. 

It's going to be a wizarding wedding from beginning to end. Mum and Dad, Barb and Housi will be the only Muggles and they have all four spontaneously asked if they would be allowed to wear robes as well. So Barb and Housi have travelled to Britain a couple of days ago and Sirius must have gone shopping with them at Gladrags Wizardwear. With thoughts like these I fall asleep.

**1.8.1998 / Hermione**

Mum and Dad have a Portkey to get to Hogwarts. Remus and Sirius have taken care of Housi and Barb already. Harry and I get up and take our shower together quickly. We are both very excited and a bit nervous, too, now. But this must be healthy according to my Mum. Mum said on the Commumirror yesterday that she's very curious as to how that wedding will be enacted and I said so am I. Neither Harry nor I have ever taken part in a wizarding wedding. From all the traditions everyone talked about we picked the ones we thought would fit to us and would be the most fun for us. Harry wants a fun wedding not a 'choreographed stiff affair' he says and I have to say I want that, too. And I know I've been thinking about wonderful weddings in white gowns and veils and everything, but now I can do well without the white gown. I'm looking forward to start dressing. Ginny and Ron will apparate up with us and then Ginny will coach me, while Ron has to sooth Harry's twitching nerves. 

We eat breakfast together and then apparate to Hogsmeade. It's a beautiful day, crisp and cool, but sunny. I've been here yesterday to oversee the preparation of the site on the Hogwarts grounds, where the ceremony will take place. Since the weather forecast had been a bit unsure we picked the large courtyard next to the Great Hall. Our party is fairly moderate, there are of course a lot of our schoolmates from Gryffindor, Harry's team mates, the whole Weasley clan, some of the Hogwarts staff and lots of Aurors we have learned to know over the past years. I take Harry's hand. He looks down on me and smiles. 

"We're really doing this, love," he says.

"Yes, love, we're really doing this. We'll enjoy a fun day, Harry. Together with so many friends! Would you have imagined anything like that when you rode the Hogwarts Express for the first time?"

"Never! I was still so caught up in the Dursleys' hatred and all. Is it really only seven years since then?"

"It is."

"Would you have thought of anything like this?"

"No. But we're so happy now..."

"We are!"

"I can't wait!" I say.

We reach the castle and go inside. Sirius is waiting for us in the Great Hall, as he promised. Also there at the teachers' table are Professors McGonagall and Flitwick. They give us a cheerful hello and we greet them back. Sirius hugs both of us and says:

"Come, sit down, you have at least another hour of time before you need to start get dressed!"

"You have no idea. It will take two hours to tame my hair!" I tell him. 

He just laughs.

"You're a witch, for Merlin's sake, you can use magic for that, can't you?"

"I don't know, but for some reason magic and my hair combined always cause some kinds of accidents," I tell him.

But we take a seat for a while and chat with everyone there and then Sirius shows us the way to their suite. 

"We have a lovely flight of rooms, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen. It's on the ground floor. Through here!"

We follow through a tapestry and another solid looking wall and then through a long corridor. Then Sirius gives a door a password and lets us all inside. We are entering the large living room with a lovely large window and two bay windows and two window seats. Sirius and Remus have already furnished it nicely. Sirius points to some bookcases and explains with a small grin:

"Remus has used Dumbledore's duplication spell for his books, so he'll have them ready here as well as at the Sunnegg. Some of them are in here, most are in our office."

"This really looks very nice, Sirius!"

"Yes, all the teachers have very lovely quarters. Now, here's our bedroom, Harry - in there! And this one's the nursery for the moment and this one's the guestroom for the moment. Hermione, that's your corner. I'll monitor that Harry will be out of the apartment before you come out. Your Mum and Dad have a Portkey right in here, they should arrive shortly before one."

"Oh, that's good. I was a bit worried."

"They're doing fine, I've spoken with your Mum this morning. I'm really beginning to get used to your Commumirrors, you know..."

"That's great. I think that's kind of what I wanted."

Ginny and I get into the guestroom. Sirius has put a vanity in there, which I suppose he only added for my sake. I grin and since it's just shortly before noon Ginny gets to work. It will take some time to get my hair tamed. But then it's falling in a lovely braid on my back. Ginny has added morning glories to it, enchanted so they can't wilt before I take them off. The vines are artfully braided inside and she has managed to have leaves and flowers all on the top. I undress quickly and put on a pair of very lacy knickers, black and I'm putting on a garter on one leg. I plan to have one little muggle wedding tradition next to throwing the bride's bouquet. Then I wear an equally lacy black bra. I step into my shoes, which are ballerinas made from the same silk as my dress robes. The dress robes are made from finest silk, in a very lovely bluish purplish hue, a bit changing from one to the other colour and a perfect match with the morning glories. And my flowers are white roses mixed with morning glories. 

Harry and I have picked the colours together, so that the dress robes fit with each other. His will be the purple that's flickering in mine, only a shade darker. The cut of mine is fairly simple. It's like I imagine those dresses the ladies wore in the middle ages, long, flowing, held together in the middle by an embroidered belt which hangs down at the front. The sleeves are fitting closely up to the elbows where they start getting wider until they end in a long triangular bit down from my elbows. This is the under-dress. It's covered with a purple tunic that's held together by the same belt. The tunic is in the same shade of purple as Harry's robes. Harry has bought me a fairly heavy gold chain. It has no precious stones, but is made so intricately that stones would have been a distraction. Now the chain falls prominently over the dress. With the lovely braid and the flowers in it I think I'm decorated just fine. I turn to Ginny.

"I like it," I say.

"That's the spirit, Hermione, meaning you like yourself right now. What better attitude to go into a partnership like marriage than that? If you'd hate yourself how could anyone else like you?"

"Actually I hated myself a lot for a good long time. You know, the buck teeth and the bushy hair... now that the teeth are just fine I find that the hair really isn't such a great problem. I could cut it after all, if I hated it so badly. But Harry likes it."

Ginny smiles. She's getting dressed rather quickly, I think, but she looks so lovely. She's wearing a marine blue set of silk dress robes, which Harry and I have given her and it's lined with gold everywhere and has gold embroideries on her chest, the collar and the sleeves. The belt outlining her tiny waist is a gold wire chain as well. It's cut in a similar fashion like mine, but still entirely different. She's wearing her coppery hair open except for a few strands outlining her face, which she gathers on the top on the back of her head with a small gold clip. Ernie has given her the clip and it looks like a very lovely bit of jewellery. I only heard about it yet, but now I can see it for the first time. 

"Oh, Ginny, that clip is just lovely. And are these tiny sapphires on it?"

"Yes, which is why it fits these dress robes so perfectly. You know, you'll be the dashing bride, but I'll be the quite dashing maid of honour," she says and giggles a little. 

I have to giggle, too. Then I reply:

"Well, I'm firmly in Harry's hands now, so I don't need to be the really dashing one, after all I'm off the 'marriage market' now. You can be as dashing as you want to be, love!"

Now we're both in fits of laughter. It's not entirely true anyway, because Ginny seems to still be so happy with Ernie I don't think they're going to break up anytime soon. I'm amazed at how well the couples held that were formed all the way back in fifth year. I suppose it's because we really had a lot of support and understanding. I look at the clock and notice it's almost time. Just then I can hear a crack and then voices. Ginny looks up, too, and says:

"Let me go and check. It's probably your parents. I'll send your Dad in as soon as it's time for you to come out, okay?"

"Yep, that's fine. See you then!"

She leaves and the minutes tick by endlessly slow. Then there's a knock on the door and my Dad pokes his head around to say:

"Hey, darling, are you ready? - Wow!"

"Hi, Dad! Did you get here well? - Oh, you look great in those robes!"

"You think so? They feel strange, but I think it will be nicer among all those robe clad people. And you don't look great, you look splendid! As does Ginny, by the way. That coppery hair with those dark blue robes, dashing," he says in what I quickly recognise as my own way of talking very fast.

"Yes, she looks that. She's a beauty, don't you think?"

"And has the brains and heart to go with it, like you do."

"Thanks, Dad..." 

I'm not protesting about not being a beauty for once. This is my wedding, so I'm going to suck up all the compliments I get with big "thank-yous" and leave it at that.

"Ready?" he whispers.

"Ready," I reply firmly.

"I've seen Harry, he's out there already. Wherever it takes place..."

"Inner courtyard. Similar to this one only a lot larger..." 

I point to the window, which goes out on another courtyard with a lawn and a stone tiled path around it. Actually the path is really an arcade which makes it look like a cloister. I think I already like that place and I'll have to visit some. 

We check the watch. Then the door opens and Ginny comes in.

"Okay. Off we go! Ron is waiting at the door to the courtyard for us and will join us there. Harry is already biting his nails at your place in front of the audience."

"You're being evil, love! Don't let me start biting MINE!"

"Nah, you'll do no such thing, Hermione. Let's go."

Dad offers his arm and I take it. He smiles down at me and remarks:

"I think it's nice that wizards also have the bride come to the groom with her father. It's nice to actually give you away to your future husband. I wouldn't let you go so easily, but first of all I know that you are well capable to look after yourself and I know that the lad waiting out there for you and biting his nails is a wonderful young man. You two will be a great couple, you know."

"Thank you, Dad! You know that I'll always love you and Mum, don't you?"

"Yes, Hermione, that's another reason why I have no problems seeing you getting married this early. Normally I would have recommended for you to wait, but I can see that the two of you fit together perfectly. Add to that the fact that you are both equals. Intelligent, powerful and financially independent. You'll be very good."

While he talks we have started to move out of the room and out of the deserted apartment. I lead the way out of the corridor and Dad trembles when he sees the wall and that I'm walking straight ahead at it. I grin and give the wall the password. It quietly disappears and then we move on to the tapestry. I think he expects another password, but I'm guiding him straight through it. He turns back and mumbles:

"Something like that barrier at King's Cross Station?"

"Yep. Though this one here is more complex, so that even the magical students are fooled. Anyone can get through, but then there's the wall."

"I see, so that's to guard the teachers' privacy, I take it?"

"Exactly. This was Remus' and Sirius' new chambers. And Seraina's future room."

"Ah."

Silently we walk through the halls and it's a bit creepy, because it seems that this is a dead place. We reach the Great Hall and while we enter I remind Dad to look at the enchanted ceiling. Today it's just blue with a brilliant sun and only a few tiny clouds. 

"Impressive," he says.

"It is, isn't it? It's an amazing view. I really loved this place. It was like home."

"You say this is where you ate?"

"Yes. There are four long tables along it and up there's the teachers' table. In place, because many teachers stay here full time and they eat their meals here together. Over there is the Gryffindor table. Then the Hufflepuff, the Ravenclaw and on the other end the Slytherin table."

"No wonder you loved this boarding school. Not that we would have sent you in any of those if it wouldn't have been for the fact that you're a witch, Hermione."

"I know. I'll be thankful for your understanding until my dying day, Dad."

"Shush! That's too long from now, hopefully."

I laugh. He's got such a practical sense in most things. Then we reach the double door to the courtyard, where Ron, dressed in marine blue dress robes holds us up.

"Hi there! You look smashing, Hermione! They're not all seated yet, but they're all outside, so it's just a moment yet."

"Okay."

We wait. Ron travels in and out. I peek through and see Harry standing in front of the seats for the guests. Ours are set a bit further away and I can see Sirius and Remus in their newest dress robes, silver for Siri and gold for Remy, standing next to Harry. They seem to be speaking with the people in the first row. Harry looks spectacular in that dark purple fabric. He looks so serious even when he laughs at something Sirius seems to have said. 

In the middle of my musing I see them breaking up and taking their positions. Harry straightens up and stands in front of his chair. The area has been decorated with a few poles, decorated with lots of morning glories, a gauzy white canopy connecting the poles and what seems like a constant stream of tiny glittery bits. Ron joins us again and says:

"Okay. You two ahead, Ginny and I right behind you."

Dad lends me his arm again, I can see Ron doing the same for Ginny and then we hear the music starting with a jazzy march theme Harry and I have selected. Ron opens the door magically and Dad and I fall into step and slowly walk out. I think I have a permanent smile plastered on my face and my heart beats so fast I'm sure Dad can hear it.

I know that at this moment Professor McGonagall places the Fidelius charm over the whole courtyard so that no one else will be able to break into the party.

Behind us Ron and Ginny move on as well. We reach the last row of chairs and some of our guests and then the next and the next... and it seems like I'm in front in no time. Harry looks at me and he has that same grin on his face that seems to mirror mine. He reaches for my hand as I let go of Daddy's arm. Dad winks and steps back to sit next to Mum in the front row. I take a deep breath. The music starts to wear down and Sirius, in front of us, asks:

"Ready?"

We both nod.

"Good. Just a moment."

The music stops and Sirius and Remus move to the middle of the canopy covered area. Sirius starts to speak:

"In the name of the bride and the groom I would like to welcome you all to this gathering. You all know the drivel so I just have to say a few words: I've been incredibly honoured by the wish of my godson and his bride to lead today's ceremonies together with my bondmate. Since we haven't ever done this before we both decided to go our own way. Remus will be Hermione's guide and I shall be Harry's guide. We both will guide them through the rites that will bind them together. Nothing is written in stone, so I say hopefully for the rest of their lives."

Then Remus takes the next step in asking:

"Again according to old tradition I will ask the question that must be asked by law in the wizarding world: If anyone objects to these two people bonding, then they may step up and state their concerns or remain silent forever."

He gives this question a full minute and since of course all remain silent he smiles and says:

"Then let us proceed with the rites. Though it may sound boring for many of you I have to explain that we have some Muggle guests among us who do not know about the way a wizarding wedding takes place. Bear with us explaining some of the rites."

Sirius speaks again:

"Sermons are not strong points of my bondmate and I, so we thought of just saying a few short words about living together as you are going to do from now on, Hermione and Harry. You have already been able to collect a bit of experience in that for a while, but you will soon learn that there is a slight difference from the way you've lived together until now and how you will be together from on today. So far you have been two independent people in love. Now you will become bondmates. At first you will sail on the clouds of your love bound together for good, and then you will notice that everyday life will take over. It's then you will have to work for your bond to remain intact. It's then you will feel most used and tired and irate. It's then you will find your bond to be the very thing that can save you. But even though we will bind you magically, everyday life is so profane that no magic can help you keep up, only the love you feel in your souls for one another. In short, you will have to work on it, every day and every night of your life. Love is something so very precious you cannot but cherish and nurture it as if it was the most fragile thing you will ever encounter in your lives. 

Do not be afraid of that. Because love is fragile, but it is at the same time one of the strongest things. It is said that with love you can shatter mountains. While that might not be called for you will nevertheless need all your love to shatter the mountains of any normal day. Remus and I know - at the latest since the day our twins were born."

There is a slight laugh of all the people in the crowd who are parents.

"I can see that there are some people who agree with me. But I let Remus continue."

Remus looks at us.

"While Sirius has talked about the perils of everyday life I'd like to speak of the heavens of those precious days when you will be able to celebrate your love undisturbed. Yes, sometimes it can be a bit hard to get away from all of that and actually find time for each other. But if you manage don't restrain yourselves. Live and celebrate that love with every fibre in your body and every wisp of your souls and every cell of your brains. These moments will become milestones, whether you get them every night or only once in a while. There will be times you get not the slightest bit of a chance to take that time. I know from experience how frustrating that is and I also know from experience how difficult it can be to just let go of that frustration and give and take when the time finally comes. So let me remind you of all the ways you can get there. 

A hot scented bath. A glass of wine. Soft music. Candlelight. Five minutes of cooling down and meditating before you even get together. A bit of something to pick off a plate together. 

And of course never underestimate chocolate!"

This time there's a whole crowd of people who laugh. Remus has a smile on his face that I just love! He can be witty and he's still sometimes that mischievous boy Sirius describes to us. Their speech has taken away some of our tension. I can feel that they really want to tell us something useful and at the same time put us at ease. Sirius takes over again.

"Now we shall proceed to the binding spells cast over Hermione and Harry. There will be three of them and they are the standards I think. For our Muggle friends I will quickly explain what happens now. There is a first spell that will enhance their health. The second spell they have chosen is one that will make them share fun. And the third spell they have chosen is a spell to raise their awareness for possible dangers around them and in their relationship. None of these spells can create something that isn't already inside of them. All they can do is enhance their natural talents in the respective discipline. 

These spells require to be cast by five people. Ron, Ginny and Albus Dumbledore have volunteered to cast them.

Hermione, Harry, would you please join us here in the middle?"

Harry and I get up and we notice that Remus, Sirius, Ron, Ginny and Dumbledore are standing around us in a pentagon. They cast the spells synchronically one by one. We are covered in red and gold sparks and until these sparks have vanished completely we have to remain on the spot. Then Ron and Ginny step back a bit, while Dumbledore returns to his place in the first row. Remus and Sirius shift, so that Remus now stands in front of me and Sirius in front of Harry. It's time for our vows. We have chosen a few simple lines for those. 

"Turn to each other," Remus says softly, "Then take your hands."

We look into each others eyes as we speak the words slowly and together. We can see that Sirius and Remus both hold their wands over us and more sparks are flowing over us. I shiver. The bonding seems to take place right now and while Harry and I exchange our vows Remus and Sirius whisper more spells. Once we're through the vows, Sirius calls Ron:

"Please pass them the rings."

They are lying on a small dark blue cushion. Ron stands to my side and levitates it out to Harry. Harry puts the ring on my finger, still staring straight into my eyes. Ron offers me the other ring. I pick it up and put it on Harry's finger. We don't wait for anyone to tell us, we step up, embrace and kiss. Then we turn back to our guests. 

"Let us introduce Mr. and Mrs Harry James Granger-Potter. They have now been bonded in front of their friends and families as well as their chosen witnesses to their marriage. May you both be blessed with a long and happy life together. This marriage is now entered into the Ministry's Book of Marriage. We ask the newly wed couple and their witnesses to step into the house with us to sign the respective papers now," Remus and Sirius say together.

I find the ability to breathe returning to me. There is music again and we are asked quietly from behind to walk through the aisle back inside the Great Hall. Ron and Ginny follow, then Remus and Sirius and slowly we reach the end of the rows of chairs. We enter the Great Hall and Sirius guides us to the small chamber behind the teacher's table. A short man in black robes has followed us from the crowd and we await him inside of the chamber. He brings a scroll of parchment forth, which he unrolls and puts on one of the tables in the room. Remus produces a quill and hands it to me. 

"You need to sign here, Mrs Potter," the man says.

Oh, how unusual it is to be called this for the first time. I pick up the quill and sign my name, Hermione Granger-Potter, then pass the quill to Harry. He signs and hands the quill to Ginny who signs her name next, then Ron and finally Remus and Sirius add their names as masters of the ceremony. 

I'm touched to tears! It's over and we can move on to the cheerful part of celebrating, but it has certainly been the most moving thing I've ever gone through in my life. I kiss Harry again and he pulls me into his arms.

"Let's go meet our guests, Mrs Potter," he says with a grin.

"I'd be happy to, Mr. Potter," I reply. 

He kisses me and admits:

"I needed to say that to you, love. I need to know it's real and has actually happened!"

I nod and understand perfectly well. We're married. We've certainly bonded long ago, but now I know what Sirius meant by talking about this feeling that would be different from until now. We are adults, fully responsible for our own lives and what we would make out of them. We turn to Remus and Sirius who are watching us and I think I detected a few tears in their eyes. It's the cutest thing! Both pull us into hugs and Remus whispers:

"All the best to you, my girl. You know that you've been a daughter for me for a long time now, don't you?"

"Yes, Remus, I've had that feeling. Now you're my father-in-law, so to speak and you have no idea how happy that makes this wolf here!"

He laughs. Then twinkles and says:

"Fancy a run through the forbidden forest now?"

"Would love to!"

"Some other time. But the September moon would be great!"

"September moon it is!"

He gives me another tight hug and kisses my cheeks. I hold him tightly. I know I have loved him since the days he's been my teacher in our third year. Now I can freely admit it.

"Love you, Remus! Be there for us for a long time still, please!" I whisper.

"I will."

Then I move on to Sirius. He holds me and says:

"It's good to have a new Mrs Potter, Miss Granger! I'm so happy for you I could burst. It's unbelievable that you've done it so early, but let me tell you that I thought it was even more right than when James and Lily got married. You two have been the best of friends for so long and you know each other inside out already. Everyday life is not going to intimidate you much anymore."

"Thank you, Siri. I love you, just as much as I love Remus, you're both wonderful and as I've just told Remus: be there for us for a long time still. Just like we'll be there for you."

"You saved my soul, Hermione. Not to speak of my arse, but without you and your time-turner I'd be worse than dead since then. Meeting you was probably the greatest bit of luck I've met with in my life apart from meeting and loving Remus."

"Think nothing of it, Padfoot. You're too great to be lost to the world."

Then there are Ron and Ginny who wait for their hugs and they receive it, hugging us both. I hear a sigh from Harry and it sounds so vulnerable, but so sweet! I take his hand again as we return to the courtyard. The Ministry official takes his scroll and bids goodbye.

Harry 

I take a deep breath and look at that woman who is now my wife. Dad, wherever you are, I do hope you've seen this and I do hope you and Mum approve. I have never been this hilariously happy in my life. It seems as if the years at the Dursleys and their cruel ways have completely vanished. Not even the threat that was Voldemort counts anymore. I've spent almost three years with this wonderful being next to me and they have been three years of bliss. I will never be able to name all the things Hermione is for me. I know of a few that I am for her. It's wonderful to discover new things. Like studying together at the Academy. Avalon Academy has accepted us with more than just pleasure. We've met some of our future professors and they are all honoured to have such a gifted student joining the Academy as Hermione. She's already made an impression on them, not the least through the invention of her Commumirrors. 

The next hour passes with greeting all of our guests. We meet them and share a few words with all of them. Then we find that the house-elves have set up a lovely table with refreshments of all sorts. I remember to eat a few bites, before I finally dive into the champagne. I know there will be a flood of alcohol in the next few hours and we have prolonged the time to take all of that stuff in as we've set the start of the festivities that early. But I've wanted to have as much as possible of the day. The early afternoon is meant to mingle and be able to talk with everyone and share fun and laughter or also more serious conversations, just as opportunities come up. The moment we are through with the greeting of our guests, Sirius and Remus quickly dash to Winky and pick up Seraina and Dennis. The twins have taken a nap in a quiet corner. It quickly gets time to feed them their mid-afternoon bottles. Winky has them with her and they heat them magically. Mum is standing close and wants to see the children. 

"Oh, they're so cute! Well done, both of you!" she says.

"Thanks, Helen! They're great for us, even though we're already dog tired. But they're so much fun!" Sirius says with a grin as he shifts Seraina on his arm, so she can look over his shoulder. He summons her bottle and heats it with a quickly muttered spell. 

"Now that is practical! If you can't do it the natural way this must be the most practical way to give them a bottle. No waiting needed!"

"No, and we're pretty glad for that, because their nightly concerts are fairly unpleasant. So if we can actually feed them at once we're quite happy."

He sits down on one of the chairs in the last row and offers the bottle to Seraina. She starts to suckle and he smiles down at her.

"My sweet little one. How lovely you are and how well you do this already. Hold the bottle yourself? Just grab it tightly. I'll help you. Mm, nice stuff?"

I look over his shoulder and see his interaction with the baby. Seraina is a very lively little girl on Siri's arms and she's the placid doll on Remus'. I've found out that the difference in their styles doesn't seem to faze either child. They just learn that Remus does things like this and Sirius does them like that and that there are a few aunties and uncles who do them yet differently. But the behaviour they show when they're with Remus or Sirius is different, too, and I find that completely fascinating. When Remus holds them on his arm they look inquisitive, contemplating and interested. If they are with Sirius they look curious, active and even a bit mischievous. I walk back to Hermione and nudge her.

"Have you ever noticed that the twins mirror Remus' or Sirius' temperaments when they are with either of them?"

"Yes, I have. It's cute, isn't it? They seem perfectly fine with that."

"Mhm. It's really sweet."

We are not getting much time for ourselves on that afternoon, but we're standing together all the time. It's the first time I don't feel exposed or unwell being the centre of attention. Whenever I need to I can feel Hermione's hand in mine or the ring. We get background music and the Weasley twins have a few funny surprises. Of course I know that they have prepared a firework for the night, but that's not quite everything. To see Draco with them makes them more dangerous than ever and I know that several people throw wary glances in their direction, especially Mrs Weasley and Professor McGonagall. 

During the afternoon we see people turning into the most surprising things. It's certainly the twin's doings, but neither Hermione nor I can work out quite how they manage it. At first. All of a sudden there's a tiny ball flying in my direction and my Quidditch reflexes intact I grab it. Only to change into a feather duster for the duration of roughly a minute. After she's done being shocked Hermione just stands in front of me and laughs her head off. I look a bit put out when I come around, I think, but she just grins and kisses me. Then she puts my robes back in order and cleans them. I turn to look for Fred, George or Draco, but I think they're already on the lookout for their next victim. 

At five the house-elves start to set up the tables for the dinner. The chairs make space for the tables or better the one table, which is a large circle big enough to seat everyone. Hermione and I get to sit under the canopy, with Ginny and Ernie next to Hermione and Ron and Justin next to me. Ginny sits next to Remus and Sirius, then it's Hermione's parents. Hermione and I sit down and look around. The table is beautiful. A blue cloth covers it, the same colour as the blue in Hermione's robes. It's decorated with white roses and morning glories. The golden Hogwarts dishes gleam on it and even the cutlery is gold tonight. We don't have goblets for once, but crystal glasses with gold rims.

The menu has been kept a secret and apart from Hermione and I no one knows what they will get to eat. There are no menus on the table either. We have asked for a Mediterranean dinner and the house-elves have invited us for a trial dinner to the Hogwarts kitchen a week ago. It was exactly what we have envisioned and so now we can hardly wait for the good stuff to turn up on the table. I notice that I'm really hungry, because even though there have been bits and pieces to eat all afternoon I've kept my stomach empty for the dinner except for a bite or two before I started filling myself up with alcoholic beverages. Remus and Sirius have allowed us to cautiously drink small amounts of wine and other alcoholic beverages in the past years, increasing the allowed amount with care, so we would get the taste but not exaggerate. They claimed it would be better for us to know how to treat the stuff with reason than to just plunge in once no one out there could forbid us to drink it. Those of us who liked the taste did drink wine in small amounts, but not all of us, because some of us didn't like it at all. For them there's liberal amounts of chilled pumpkin juice and water around the table. 

I notice that Hermione fills every second glass with water. I soon do the same, because she's right when she says wine is there to enjoy, not to still thirst. 

The dinner starts and goes on for a long time. We don't have to hurry and no one minds pauses between the courses. We get everything that the Mediterranean cuisine has to offer. I wonder how the house-elves have managed, because I can only remember one occasion when they actually sent up menus of a more international colouring. It was at the feasts during the Triwizard Tournament. And I don't think I enjoyed them then. 

But now it's perfect, especially with this lovely day. I have engaged Colin Creevey to be our photographer and he'll also take a few group photos right after dinner. I know he's already spent a lot of time taking pictures of everyone during the course of the afternoon. It will be great fun to look at them. 

Three hours after we were served the first course of dinner it's coming to an end. So far the music has been a mix of many different musical styles, but from now on it will be dance music. The table is cleared of the last course and dessert is marking the beginning of the dance. We gather for the official photos of the family and friends. It's a good feeling to say I have family. Hermione and I pose with what seems like dozens of people, other couples, Siri and Remus who hold their children, with the Weasleys, with everyone. Then I pull Hermione to the dance floor between the large round table and the place where the musicians sit. She looks at them and we hear a waltz of some sort starting and I just love it. We start to circle around the floor and after a while we beckon others to join us. I can see Molly and Arthur Weasley pick up Seraina and Dennis and sending Remus and Sirius on to the dance floor, quickly followed by Ron and Justin, Ernie and Ginny and all of the others who feel inclined to dance. It's wonderful and sweet and I hope this evening never ends. 

I'm a good boy and once I've had a few rounds with Hermione we let others in. Sirius grabs her for the first round, then Remus and Dad are there and they claim the privilege of their age over Ron and our friends. But Ron gets his chance with Hermione as well. I'm being nice and ask Helen first, then Molly Weasley, who asks me to finally call her Molly instead of Mrs Weasley. I smile, because I think it's about time, only I never wanted to say anything. After Molly I find Professor McGonagall, who gives me one of her very rare smiles and dances a very decent slow fox with me. 

"I don't know how to thank you and Professor Dumbledore for this wonderful setting for my wedding," I tell her.

"This has been a pleasure for us, Potter! You should know that neither Professor Dumbledore nor I have ever left you out of our eyes completely. And both of us greatly like both you and your lovely wife."

"She's always been extremely fond of you, Professor."

"I see many similarities between her and myself, you know. I also married early. It's not to be expected that the same thing will happen to you that happened to my husband though. He was killed when we had been married for only two years. Grindelwald. Or rather Tom Riddle in Grindelwald's service. I never met anyone I could love again and then Albus called me to Hogwarts. Its children are my children now."

I'm baffled. That's the most she's ever told me about herself. I wonder how many people actually know about these things. Not too many I would guess. Or better: not too many would know from her own lips. Losing Hermione this way - I don't even want to think about that. I'm sure I could never love anyone else like this after her either. 

When it gets dark Fred and George gather everyone and lead us to the Hogwarts grounds. They have set up their firework there and with a wave of Fred's wand it starts. It's beautiful again. They have managed to actually reproduce Hermione and I, dancing, and then transforming into the wolf and the dog and frolicking around the night sky in a most playful way. Hermione holds my hand and both of us smile. The last part is a sparkling text, which says:

"To Hermione and Harry: a long and happy life together and congratulations!!!!!"

Everyone applauds and we both thank the twins. They look smug, but I think they have every reason to be.

Two more hours of socialising and dancing start and then the older guests start leaving the scene and Hermione and I know it's time to return to the Sunnegg. Before we leave we ask Remus and Sirius to gather the whole crowd of unmarried ladies in front and once they're all there Hermione throws her bride's bouquet. I can see Parvati to be the one to catch it. And after that we ask all the unmarried guys to step up. I help my wife onto a chair. She turns her back to everyone, lifts her robe and rolls the black silk garter she wears down her leg. I explain that the Muggles sometimes do this as a wedding tradition.

"The first of you to catch the garter will be the next to get married!"

I can see Ron and Justin starting to grin and when Hermione throws the garter over her shoulder it's actually Justin who catches it easily. He holds it up and grins.

Then we just say goodbye to everyone, vanish inside of the Great Hall, pass it and Hermione asks:

"Should we get dressed into our clothes from this morning?"

"We just pick the stuff up and do it at home, okay?"

"Okay."

I can't wait! We pick our things up and then walk to the gates from where we apparate home. We're both not yet ready to leave this home completely and I think we might not until we start our own family. Right now we drop our clothes on the bed, undress and get dressed in something entirely different. The place we go in Fiji provides us with a small hut-like house, where we will have every comfort. It will be midday there now and we're not really in a hurry. Our baggage is packed, reduced so we have only to put it in our pockets and start apparating through the several stops until we get to Australia from where it will be one hop to Fiji.


	3. The Ghosts are brought up to Speed

**2.8.1998 / Sirius**

Well, they're off to their honeymoon our lovebirds. We are taking care of Helen and George to see them off with another Portkey and also help Barb and Housi back to the room we've given them in our apartment. Hermione has cleared it from the clothes she's worn this morning. I take the opportunity to check on Seraina and Denny. Both are sleeping soundly. I've seen a bit of red cheeks on Seraina this afternoon and didn't know if that's from the heat, so I'll check her now and see she still has them. I'll have to show that to Poppy tomorrow and ask what could be wrong. Seraina did seem a bit whiny today but since it didn't hinder her from emptying her bottle to the last drop I wasn't too worried. 

I return to the courtyard and look for Remus. He's talking with Parvati and Padma. When I close up he asks:

"Everything okay?"

"Yes, they're both sleeping. Off to bed for us?"

"I think so. They'll demand our full attention again in the morning."

"You can sleep in, love, the full moon is all too soon..."

"Thank you, love. - Well, goodnight to you lovely people then. We need our sleep these days."

The twins both laugh and wish us a good night, too.

"We'll be off soon anyway."

"Get home safely."

We both vanish back to our chambers. The bedroom looks nice now. Huge four poster! I love that kind of bed so much. The old castle is fairly draughty and there's not much to do against that apart from covering much of the walls with tapestries and paintings. Our bedroom has quite a few tapestries, but there's also a portrait of an elderly wizard who seems to have his nose buried in his book. So far he's never yet looked up, but tonight he looks straight at us and I recognise my Uncle Alphard! 

"Goodness gracious, Uncle Alphard!" I cry out.

"Good evening, lads. Now that took you long enough to recognise me, Sirius!"

"Well, you might have opened your mouth earlier on, Uncle Alphard! How did you get in here?"

"Oh, I asked Filch to bring me here when I heard the talk of you lads coming to teach here. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks. Also thanks for baffling the rest of the Black bunch by leaving your earthly possessions to me! They were rather displeased, because your money was the only thing that made you acceptable in their eyes. I wasn't liked any better by them for it..." I remark.

He snickers though.

"You didn't need their respect, Sirius. You were too good for them anyway. Phineas throws his scathing looks at me every time we meet somewhere here. But you've got the chance to better this family now! Delightful little lad you got there."

"Thanks. We're off to bed now, if you don't mind..."

"I'll be out of here..."

I turn to Remus who finally starts to undress and take off my own robes. We take a quick hop into the bathroom and then go to bed. Since there's a talking portrait in the room we decide to draw the curtains closed. I mean, I really liked the old codger who's been my father's much hated younger brother, one out of two of them and two sisters, but I don't think he needs to take part in my sex life. Once it has become known among the remaining Blacks that I have a son they started howling because they now lost the chance to inherit the Black wealth completely. And I have to say I'm very pleased about that. Nevertheless Remus and I will replace the portrait into the living room. He'll certainly not like us less for that.

**20.8.1998 / Remus**

I wish Sirius a good night and he vanishes upstairs. Seraina shows the first signs of teething and I expect her to wake Siri a few times during the night. 

I'm enjoying the rest of the evening with a puzzle we've started on the coffee table. All of a sudden I feel the presence of someone in the room and almost at the same time I hear two soft voices calling out:

"Remus!" 

"Moony!"

I look up and my eyes widen. 

"James! Lily! No, this can't be real! You're dead!" I cry out, but I can feel my heart pounding.

This can't be real, this can't be real! But they are. We start talking when I bring Sirius down, then Harry and Hermione turn up and it gets very late until we finally go to bed. Which doesn't mean we actually find rest. Sirius climbs into bed next to me and I pull him into a hug. He buries his face in my shoulder and I can feel tears. After a while he can't hold back and I can hear him actually sob. I just hold him and caress his back. For him this experience is the hardest. I know that his tears are both happy and sad at the same time. They have become ghosts. We both know that people become ghosts mostly when they have unfinished business on earth, but what was theirs? Raising their son? To spend so much time when they thought they were there for only a couple of days sounds very strange.

But oh, they are back in a form that we can talk to them and it's just like a hole in our hearts has been filled where they were missed for so many years. Like Sirius' and my life are whole again. And this without a fifth wheel on the wagon. It takes a long time to find sleep tonight.

**21.8.1998 / Remus**

Another long day of talking and explaining. We're all still very excited. Dobby and Winky serve us breakfast and are introduced to James and Lily. They are both thrilled that Harry's parents have turned up this way. 

We aren't only thrilled, we're ecstatic. Who would have expected something like that? Besides, I find it strange, because I know that Professor Binns for example just stood up the morning after he died and found himself to be a ghost. And Nearly Headless Nick was the same - as soon as that not so great beheading was over he was a ghost. I'll have to dig to the sources of this becoming a ghost. What was special about James and Lily's becoming a ghost? Maybe it has to do with them being murdered. I think I'll have some fun with finding out which of the Hogwarts ghosts have been victims of murder and if they have gone through something similar. When I ask them they now feel time passing just as we do. 

They are looking translucent now, just like the other ghosts I know. But still they can pick up things and hold them. If we touch them it's like touching air though. On the other hand they can hug each other and feel solid. Hm. Strange business. Ghosts don't seem to be like other ghosts sometimes. Then I remember that Binns picks up books and parchments etc in class and even carries them through the walls! Another mystery. I wouldn't want James or Lily carry one of our children through the walls! Must make sure to mention it before James finds it a funny way of moving through the house.

It's brilliant to have them here. I wonder if they can come up to Hogwarts with us. They've already tried and found they can still use magic. But James can't transform anymore of course. Now we're sitting at the breakfast table. It's after nine and we usually have a late breakfast during the break as we then go without lunch and have an early dinner. Sirius and I have planned to take the babies out to the public bath for a lazy afternoon. They can nap under the trees and we'll have a bit of fun in the water. 

**James**

I'd never thought I'd feel this happy being dead. I don't feel any different, at least not when it comes to hugging and being with Lily. We feel each other like we've felt each other alive! Okay, we go right through the others now it seems. Funny feeling of becoming translucent for them overnight! But who cares. We're reunited, the four best friends! Now I know why I always had a tiny bit of resentment for Peter. I was arrogant enough to like his adoration, because it does make one feel nice if someone is there to admire every little thing one does. Though sometimes I thought it was sickening and exaggerated. But if you're fifteen...

It was a shock to see my grown son! I mean, there he was a baby of only fifteen months who I put down for his nap or changed his nappies and fed him bottles and the next day I see him a grown married man! I'm only 21! And I'll be 21 forever now. Okay, so that's not the worst of prospects, but imagine the feeling of seeing your son only three years younger than yourself!

He's wonderful! And powerful. And still so quiet and kind. My first impression was that there was my mirror image, but there was nothing, absolutely nothing of my personality in him. And not too much of Lily either. He's been formed by a very hard childhood as it seems and I'll make sure to haunt my sister- and brother-in-law for a good long while! Harry doesn't want us to, but that's not something he can keep us from doing! It's not like they know how to appeal at the Ministry to have us banned. And we can easily see that Siri and Remy can't do it either, though I'm sure both would love to! Harry himself just looks ahead and he's right to do that. 

What a wonderful daughter-in-law we have! She's brilliant, kind, witty and loves him to bits. That much we were able to see last night. They're now coming down the stairs together and grin happily to see us. 

"Good morning, everyone," Hermione says, takes a place at the table and Harry moves along the bench to join her. 

"Morning. What are your plans for today?" Lily asks.

"I think, Padfoot and Moony want to go swimming. We will join them. - Who else is home?" Harry asks.

"Ron and Justin. They were home a lot later than everyone else. And I think Ernie and Ginny. Morag is visiting her parents," Remus says.

"Mandy and Neville are working... Draco went to Diagon Alley yesterday, said something about spying for a building for their new company. Did you know that the fun-park has a name now?" Sirius continues. 

Of course, Lily and I don't have an idea who all those people are, but we're probably going to learn about them in the near future, so we listen attentively.

"No! When did they come up with one?" Harry asks.

"A couple of days ago, just before you came back from your honeymoon. It's going to be called Dragon's Tales. Draco, Blaise and the twins went through several Muggle fun-parks like the Disney parks and the Europa-Park in Germany and some other water based parks to gather more ideas. They're on the lookout for the best possible location in Britain or in France now. That's going to be the difficult part though," Sirius explains.

"Quite a good name. So it's not only going to be wizarding enhanced water slides?"

"No. Which is why Draco would like it to be in the French Alps. You know how much he liked skiing, he thought it would be great to have some ski resorts close..." Remus says and laughs.

Harry and Hermione grin, too. Then they turn around to greet two young men coming down the stairs. They stare at us, quite baffled it seems. Remus looks up, too, smiles and tells them:

"Come on, sit down. You've seen ghosts before after all. - James, Lily, these are Ron Weasley and Justin Finch-Fletchley. And Justin, Ron, these are Harry's parents. They turned up here yesterday and it was quite a shock for us to see them as ghosts. Meet James and Lily Potter!"

Ron grins and Justin's smile grows wider, too. Ron sits down on what seems to be his usual spot, then turns to us to say:

"Pleased to meet you Mrs and Mr. Potter! Harry must be very happy to have met you finally!"

"Please do call us James and Lily! Otherwise we feel bloody old! And I'm pleased to meet you, too. Harry said you're close friends?" I protest. 

"I should hope so. We've been friends since we've met on the Hogwarts Express. Thanks to him I've run through some pretty atrocious adventures though..."

I can't really laugh. They did sound atrocious to me!

"I've heard about those. Thank you for standing at Harry's side, Ron!"

"Not that it was difficult to do that! He's a great guy."

"Why, thank you, mate," Harry says.

In the course of the day we learn that Sirius has managed to teach several people to become an Animagus and I'm pleasantly shocked one of them is Remus. He shows me his wolf and Lily gasps next to me. Wow, he's magnificent! I remember him well from all the full moon nights we roamed the Forbidden Forest together, but Lily hasn't ever seen him of course. Now she gets up and crouches in front of him, embracing him.

"You look beautiful, Remus! I've always been fascinated by wolves..."

"We have another one who changes into a wolf here, Lily. Hermione makes for a beautiful one as well," Sirius says.

"Wow! Will you let me see it, Hermione?" Lily asks.

"Sure. Once I get up I'll be glad to."

"And what are you, Harry? I don't think they've left you out..." I say.

"No, they didn't. The whole class became Animagi! I'm a fairly plain dog..."

"Plain? You're a border collie, they're anything but plain, love!" Hermione protests.

I grin. A dog! That's cute. And Hermione says he looks like a border collie. They're fun dogs. Maybe there's more mischief in my son than I thought. Ron transforms into a fox and Justin into a cat.

"But just wait until you see Ginny! She's probably the most magnificent of all of us. She's a golden eagle!" Justin exclaims.

"Wow! Can she fly?" I ask.

"Can she fly? And how! We've been skiing again last Christmas break and she flew up to the highest parts of the mountains to try the thermals. It must have looked amazing!" Ron says.

I look over at Sirius who seems to be pretty smug. I don't think there were ever that many Animagi at the same time. He has to have done a magnificent job. 

Obviously it's not a good idea to go with them to a public Muggle bath, so Lily and I stay at the house and talk with the young people who have stayed also. Later in the afternoon others come in. Two of them are identical twins. They look very much like Vaidyanathan Patil and it turns out they're his daughters. They're nice girls, one of them a Ravenclaw, the other a Gryffindor. And through them I find out that Draco, the friend they've been talking about at the breakfast table is Lucius Malfoy's son. I'm a bit shocked that anyone could befriend a Malfoy, but they assure me he's distanced himself from his parents. Narcissa Malfoy is Sirius' cousin, so he's related to Draco. I learn that both his parents are in Azkaban.

"Well, that's most probably where they belong..." I mutter.

"Did you know them?" Parvati asks.

"Only too well. We always knew Lucius was a Death Eater, but we could never convince the Ministry. Not even Crouch would believe it."

"Well, they got off in any case. Seems they were acquitted after claiming that they were under Imperius," Padma tells us.

"Ha, bloody ha! Those two were able to throw off the Imperius without the slightest problem! How could anyone believe such a lie?"

"No idea. I was still a baby back then..." 

"It's still so strange to think of this as 'back then' for us. For us it was less than a week ago!" Lily remarks.

"Must be a horrible feeling!"

Later a happy bunch of people barges back into the house. Sirius and Remus are back with the babies and the kids who went along with them. After dinner the young people mostly go out as it's a Friday. Once it's a bit more quiet and the twins are sleeping in their nursery we can talk again. Lily and I still have large gaps of knowledge, so they tell us some more of what interests us. 

"So what are you going to do now that you have finished teaching them?" Lily asks.

"Albus wants us back at Hogwarts. So in ten days we're moving there for the school year. Of course we do plan to spend some weekends here, we've grown too fond of the place to just leave it. We'll certainly also come for the Christmas break and all the summer breaks."

"He wants you back to teach? That's great!" I exclaim.

"Yes, Siri will teach Potions and I'll teach Defence Against the Dark Arts again."

"Potions? You were good at the subject, but it's certainly not your best, Padfoot," I wonder.

"No, it's not, but after Voldemort had been killed Snape didn't need the protection of the castle anymore and wanted to quit. He's doing some research now. Arabella Figg has covered for him in the past year and I'll take over from now. I actually enjoyed teaching Potions a lot, it's really an interesting subject. As long as Minerva is still there she'll be the Transfigurations teacher..."

"Ah, I see. - Snivellus must have been an awful teacher!" I say.

"He is a dreadful person. Would have been an excellent teacher even, if his personal bias didn't stand in the way. So he treated even very talented non-Slytherins lousy. The kids all had an excellent basis when I started teaching them. They had the necessary discipline to avoid most accidents. Neville of course was extremely anxious because he'd been put down by Snape most often. I've been able to convince him that he was very well able to brew potions and now he's not a bad brewer."

Remus tells Lily and me about the Boggart and Neville's greatest fear. Lily is a bit shocked, but both of us have to laugh.

"Well, there wasn't much I could do. He was so afraid of Snape that his Boggart actually became Severus! How should I make him ridiculous enough that even a frightened Neville would find him funny? So I packed him into Mrs Longbottom's clothes. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life, but Severus has glared daggers at me for weeks. And the Wolfsbane potion was pretty ugly to drink as such, but he managed to make it even worse! I think it irked him even more that I never complained. Took a lot though..."

"Wolfsbane potion?" I ask, confused.

What potion is he talking about? He wouldn't in his right mind drink anything containing wolfsbane, now would he? 

"It's a potion to keep the wolf at bay when I transform. I keep my own mind and I'm pretty harmless then. Of course if I nipped someone and drew blood I'd still curse them. But I don't feel any bloodlust, not even much lust to hunt. Siri, Hermione and Ginny take turns in brewing it for me now. It's such a complex potion that there aren't very many people able to make it. But our brilliant Hermione has managed to make it a bit more bearable." 

Oh! Now there's an improvement. That may be the reason why Remus looks so much better. He's still slim but he's put on the weight he should have and he really looks fine. 

**29.8.1998 / Remus**

Everything is packed. We're moving all of our personal stuff we will need to Hogwarts. I've bought a laptop and another cell phone, since we have Ginny's ingenious spell to make them work at Hogwarts. We'll keep both at our rooms, not the office, so it won't become too well known that such things can be used. This way we'll be in e-mail contact with the gang. My books are copied and minimised and I have brought them up to their new home in the past few days. We've filled our wardrobe at Hogwarts with new clothes, mostly robes, but several sets of comfortable Muggle clothes as well. Now we'll just travel there and bring the twins, James and Lily along. We're due at the Headmaster's office at two thirty. Both babies are napping in the slings we carry them in. Of course we have the pram, but to travel with a Portkey it's easier to hold them close. 

We get there on time and Albus greets us, then he discovers James and Lily and of course that causes a series of explanations. Minerva is there, too, and she's almost crying of happiness to see Lily and James again. 

All of a sudden we hear a noise from one of the portraits. It's Phineas Nigellus of course. Albus has once told me that Phineas is one of the most active portraits, always on the run somewhere. He must have just arrived back in his portrait when he sees Sirius with a baby. 

"What is my good-for-nothing great-great-grandson doing here again?" he asks baffled.

"Phineas, you do remember that he will teach Potions here now, don't you?" Albus asks him.

"Ah yes, I forgot. Haven't seen him since what? About two years?"

"That's possible - he's never been up here since then in that case."

"I'm not missing you any, Phineas, and you know that..." Sirius mumbles.

He's loosening the sling as Seraina starts to wake up. Then he summons the bottle to warm it and feed our daughter. I look at Phineas and notice he's staring daggers.

"Oh yes, Phineas, meet my daughter Seraina and my son Dennis," Sirius says happily.

"Err... somehow I didn't expect you to have children - have you adopted?"

"No. They're ours. They share the birth-mother, but Dennis is my son and Seraina is Remus' daughter."

"So you did your duty after all... at least one thing you could do as you had to."

"Only that's not the reason why we have them. We have them because we longed to have a family. And they won't hear the pureblood rubbish my old folks tried to hammer in my head. They'll grow up learning about love, friendship, trust and fun. So there!"

I can feel Denny waking up. It's time to loosen the knot that ties the sling on my shoulder and release Denny from the hold that presses him to my chest. He does like it, because he's close and held tightly. But once he's awake he starts to protest against the confinement. Until he sees his food coming. Then he graces me with one of his beautiful smiles and a few noises that tell me of his happiness that food is coming his way. He starts to suckle eagerly and in no time empties his bottle. 

"Well, I think that was all we needed to talk about right now. You surely want to go and take care of your little ones," Albus says.

"We'd be glad to. They've slept, but now they won't be happy to just sit still."

"Very well. I hear you've brought Winky along with you?"

"Yes, she's doing very well with the babies and she likes to serve the children. I think she's finally over the Crouches," I say.

"That's very fine. It will be nice to see them grow up!"

Albus smiles and when Minerva asks I give her Denny who behaves very well on her arm. 

"They're so sweet, it's going to be very hard to be strict with them," she says.

"You mean, it's easier with a bunch of wild eleven year olds?"

"Absolutely. I usually don't know them before they get here and then it's fairly easy to be detached and steely. But knowing them from so small..."

She sighs. We all laugh, because we know what a softie she is deep down. Phineas speaks up again and asks:

"Can I have a closer look at your heir, Sirius?"

"Sure!"

Minerva steps closer to the portrait and Phineas looks at the baby. Then he notices:

"Well, he at least looks like a Black."

"He should."

"Not that you care, but is his mother at least a pure-blood?"

Sirius rolls his eyes.

"As it happens, yes, she is. It's not been one of the credentials we asked for though. I think she's fifth generation, but who cares!"

Phineas doesn't comment. I'm taking Denny back on my arms and we leave the office. James and Lily stay on for a while and Albus promises them to show them the way to our flat.

We enjoy a quiet rest of the afternoon in front of our living room under the arcades of the courtyard. It's warm enough and the babies are on a warm thick quilt, lightly covered with a blanket. Sirius is going over some of his lesson plans and I'm reading. It's totally quiet, as we're the only ones who's rooms go on this courtyard. As long as it's warm we're going to enjoy it, as it's so peaceful. 

The twins take another nap before dinner. Then it's time to go to the Great Hall, where the rest of the staff turns up one by one. They are all happy to see the twins again and the babies get cuddled by several people. I'm glad they are accepting this very gracefully. But I do make a stop at Sybill trying to predict their future. 

"I don't think we need to know that, Sybill, and I'd be thankful if you'd kept those predictions to yourself."

It sounds rude and it's meant to be rude, because I want to stop her once and for all. If she does that every time she sees my children they'll be scarred for life! 

Poppy looks me over and says:

"Remus, you look fine, but very tired! What's wrong?"

"I'm sure you know the thing, Poppy, it's called 'teething'..." I reply.

"Oh yes, I can see why you are tired... there's nothing doing but waiting until they're all out," she says with sympathy in her voice.

"We've figured that out. Seraina has her first two teeth out, she seems to be taking a break, but Denny's having a hard time right now. Not much sleep during much of the night. Why is it that those blasted teeth grow most actively during the night?"

"I have no idea, but I remember that I wondered about the exact same thing three times when we had ours. You will get by. All parents do eventually. I have something I can give you to rub on their gums. It's a paste."

"Only we get very little rest, because they're two of them. Winky helps a lot, but still... thanks for your offer, I'll come by and get it."

"I know. They calm down best with Daddy, don't they?"

"Exactly."

**1.9.1998 / Remus**

The last three nights before the start of the school year have not been more quiet. We have to spend a good long time with our little ones and even though we can take them on the rocking chairs we're not getting a lot of sleep.

Today we help with what last moment work has to be done while waiting for the students to arrive. The sixth and seventh years still know me, but the rest of the students only know me as an occasional visitor. I'm a bit worried, but not too much. The first week for me will be the same from first through to seventh year. They will get to speak about werewolves with me. Of course they will all have to accept it, but some will probably rebel. And they all know about it. 

We arrive at the Great Hall while the Entrance Hall fills with the returning students. Sirius and I make our way through the throngs. Many of the students actually greet me politely, especially the Creevey brothers. Both are as cheerful as ever. I smile at them. 

"Hello, Professor Lupin!" Colin calls. 

"Hello there, Colin! How are you?"

"Fine, thanks! I'm happy to be back. Though it's my last year now."

"I can see you've been made prefect!"

"Yes. Dennis has a badge, too! He's in fifth year now."

We move to the Great Hall and Sirius and I walk through to the teachers' table. We're sitting at the end close to the door to the small chamber behind the teachers' table. Hagrid will join us here a little later and also Filius Flitwick and Professor Sprout. 

I look out as the students fill the hall and leave the front of their house tables free for their new house mates. Once everyone is seated, Minerva brings the stool and the hat and then leaves to go and gather the students from the room on the other side of the Entrance Hall while Hagrid comes through the gap between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables to sit down at his place next to Sirius. We watch as a long line of first years is led through the same gap by Minerva. Goodness, they're all tiny! All of them look either excited, a bit anxious or downright frightened. 

"63 firs' years! I don' think as we had that many in twenty years," Hagrid remarks.

The Sorting is going to last forever. I listen to the names and look at the children who move from the long row in front of our table to the stool to be sorted:

"Ainsville, Kathleen," Minerva calls the first one.

Kathleen is sent to Ravenclaw. Antonov Drusilla is sent to Slytherin. Archer Frank becomes a Ravenclaw again. We applaud all of them. I look over to Professor Vector who is the new head of Slytherin house. She's the only Slytherin teacher left right now. But I know her to be a similar character as Minerva, quite strict and unbiased. I liked her as a teacher. I think she will be good for the house. She welcomes each of her new students with a special wave of her hands. 

The 63 students spread over the four houses and I can see that the others in the Great Hall are getting a bit eager to finally get some food. 

Steinman Stephanie becomes a Gryffindor. Stevenson, Alix follows her to the Gryffindor table, Svenson Frederik joins the Hufflepuff table. Tucker Tabitha is the seventh girl in this Gryffindor year. Underhill Michael becomes a Ravenclaw. Verbena George and Georgina are again Gryffindors. Weasley Kevin and Weasley Robin both go to Gryffindor as well. I wonder which of Arthur and Molly's relatives their parents are. I suppose I'll learn it some time soon. Finally the last student, Zwicky Mark, goes to Hufflepuff and the Sorting is over. 

Albus gets up, welcomes the new and returning students and calls for the food. I'm looking over the tables in front of us. We're closest to the Gryffindor table. There seem to be quite a lot more students than at the other end of the hall. Slytherin has received eleven new students while there are eighteen in Gryffindor. Eighteen! In our year we were eight! All of a sudden I wonder what has become of the three girls who were in our year besides Lily. The two Weasleys and the Verbena twins already seem to get along well with each other. They sit together and chat animatedly. 

Then I concentrate on our own conversations. Filius looks happy.

"Fifteen new Ravenclaws. This is an unusually strong year! We usually don't get more than eight or ten students in our house," he remarks.

"That's good then! We'll have larger classes though," Sirius says.

"We will be swamped! We get the Slytherins and Gryffindors in one class and the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs in the other. But we can't manage otherwise. It would just be too many lessons."

"I know. That's almost thirty students in each of them. But they will work in teams anyway, so I'm sure I'll get along..."

"Is your new classroom big enough to fit them all inside?" Filius asks.

"Yes. Up to thirty can brew comfortably and if need be we can squeeze one more per row inside," Sirius replies.

"Good. Otherwise we can always magically enlarge the room."

All too soon the food has been cleared from the tables and Albus gets up for his usual short speech.

"Again, welcome to a new school year at Hogwarts! We have the pleasure to welcome two new teachers in our faculty. Some of you will still remember Professor Remus J. Lupin, who has been teaching here five years ago. He returns to his position as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

I stand up and I'm quite astonished that I'm getting a sound applause from all house tables. Wow... I smile at them and sit down again. 

"Since Professor Snape left us a year ago and Professor Figg felt too old to stay longer than a year we had to find a new Potions professor. Which we did in the person of Professor Sirius Black," Albus says.

Sirius shows himself and gets a hearty applause from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw table and a bit more shy from the Hufflepuff table. The Slytherins seem to be very indifferent. 

"And finally since Professor Figg has left us we also needed to find a new head of Slytherin house. This will be Professor Vector," Dumbledore tells the students.

This time the whole house table offers an applause for their new head of house. After the announcements Albus dismisses everyone to their houses. We slowly move out of the Hall after the students. We watch them going up and down their ways and go past the marble staircase to reach our rooms on the ground floor. When we get there Winky is carrying Denny around. Sirius takes over and tells Winky:

"You're to be back tomorrow morning at seven thirty, Winky, okay?"

"I is coming then, Professor Black."

"Fine. Thank you very much, Winky."

She vanishes with a crack. Sirius goes back to the nursery and sits down with the baby, rocking and soothing it. Denny finds his sleep again and Sirius can put him back in his crib. We'll have to replace those soon with larger beds for the twins. Sirius pulls the door almost closed and joins me in the living room. I'm going over tomorrow's schedule. Sirius will not be the only one with large classes. We're all in the same boat. The amount of lessons we have to teach otherwise would just be too much. As it is we now have fourteen classes. Defence, Potions, Charms and Transfiguration make for two periods every week in the first three years and three periods in the four remaining years. Overlooking this I notice that it was no wonder we've been through with the materials so quickly in Switzerland, seeing as we had twice the amount of time to teach. My schedule looks pretty full now!

I'm starting off with a double lesson with the fifth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. No special preparations because I'm talking about werewolves in the first period and shields in the second. Then three more repetitions of the werewolf speech for the sixth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs and the fourth and first years Gryffindors and Slytherins. In the afternoon the same speech for the sixth and then the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Second period for the sixth years will be about blood magic.

The next full moon is on Sunday night. I'll probably be a bit late on Monday. I don't think I manage to reach the first class, so the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff seventh years get to sleep in a bit. I'll remind the prefects tomorrow to inform them. 

We go to bed early. There's no use wasting time to sleep, since we're probably up several times during the night. 

**2.9.1998 / Sirius**

Denny has been a very kind boy - I only had to get up twice. That tooth seems to move now. I can feel it just under the rim of his gums. He's frantically biting on anything he can get between his gums. When I get up at seven I quickly take a shower and then get dressed, before I look into the nursery. Winky has already taken up position and snoozes in one of the rocking chairs. I spread a blanket over her. Maybe that's why we haven't been awoken more than two times. She must have come in after that second time. Both children are still fast asleep. I sigh and turn around to go out of the room. I pull the door almost close. Remus looks at me and I tell him they're still sleeping.

"Good. We'd better go..."

We walk over to the Great Hall. Some students are up already and I see that Minerva has the piles of schedules for the students ready. Each has a plan with the location of our two new classrooms and our office attached. 

Minerva passes the piles to those prefects who are already in the Great Hall. Then she comes up to the teacher's table and wishes us a good morning.

"Ready, Sirius?" she asks.

"Quite. Though my schedule quite frightens me..."

She laughs.

"I can see that - you've only had a single class and didn't work the whole week long."

"It's going to be a bit hard in the beginning. And I've got to really concentrate on the different years. But I think I've prepared myself well."

"Good! I wish you an excellent start!"

"Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Fourth years. Should be okay," I say.

Still I feel my heart beat quite strongly when I finish my breakfast with a look over the Daily Prophet's front page and the Quidditch results. It's eight fifteen when Remus and I get up, throw one last look over the students who seem to discuss their schedules. We climb up the stairs to the fifth floor, where our office is to pick up our things. Both our schedules are pinned up on the backside of the door. 

**Remus**

I won't see much of the office during the morning and I collect all the material I need for the next five periods. Since I only have one lesson where I actually teach something actively I only have the books I need to cover the shields. 

I go down to my classroom and find that there are already several students. I have the rosters for all four classes I see this morning and look at it. Eight Ravenclaws and ten Hufflepuffs in this class. They start to come in as soon as I unlock the classroom door.

"Good morning," I say. 

"Good morning, Professor Lupin," two of the girls say.

Once inside I place my briefcase on the table. I take the roster out and watch the students come inside. All of them stare, because the room is a bit more modern than what they are used to see. I flick my wand at the lamps above and immediately the room is flooded with the typical bright light of the halogen lamps. All eighteen students are seated, I close the door with my wand and repeat:

"Good morning, class!"

"Good morning, Professor Lupin!" they repeat.

"I'd like to get to know you and will go through the roster, okay?"

They nod and I call each and every student by name and look at them to memorise their faces. Then I lean back against my table and start:

"Before we start with your actual Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons I would like to talk to you about werewolves. You all know why I want to do this, don't you?"

Some students look a bit puzzled, so maybe they don't all know. One Hufflepuff girl finally lifts her hand.

"Melba?"

"I've heard that you are one..." she whispers and hardly dares looking at me.

"That's right. - Now. You've been brave enough to reply, Melba, would you have the courage to tell me that you whispered your answer because you are afraid of me?"

She shakes her head.

"No, not because I'm afraid of you... because I didn't want to hurt you..."

Wow!

"That's a very kind thing to say, Melba, thank you! I can tell you all that you have no need to be afraid of me. It has taken me years to accept the fact that I am a werewolf. I was bitten, when I was still a small child and my parents thought I would die, but I survived. So I've grown up with this affliction and it hasn't been easy. Who among you all knew already that you would have a teacher who's a werewolf?"

Thirteen hands go up. I nod.

"And whose parents have not been concerned about that?"

Only three hands are now visible. I'm not astonished of course.

"Can you tell me what their concerns were?" I ask them.

I pick a boy who sits almost in front of me.

"They were afraid you'd attack us," he said.

"Do you think I will do anything like that?" I ask.

"I don't know," he admits.

"Let's look at this from another point of view. What do you know about when werewolves would attack humans?" I ask.

"When they are wolves?" a Ravenclaw girl asks back.

"Right. And when are they wolves?"

"At night?" another girl, a Hufflepuff again.

I grin. Ideas they have...

"What night?" I ask her.

"I don't know..." she admits, like the boy before.

"Well, what did your parents ever tell you about when werewolves are actually in their wolf form?"

Now I get a series of replies and only one of them mentions the full moon night. It's another Ravenclaw girl who seems to be a prefect. I stop the suggestions and ask her:

"Valerie has it right. The night of the full moon is when werewolves transform into the wolf. Only on this night are we indeed very, very dangerous. Most of us see that we will be locked up somewhere so we do not endanger anyone. The Ministry actually has several shelters, only those are more like really ugly prison cells, so not many of my kind even consider using them."

"But you do?" a Hufflepuff boy asks.

"No. I don't need to."

"But you do transform, don't you?"

"Yes, I do transform. I don't need to lock myself up though because I get the Wolfsbane potion, which doesn't prevent my transformation, but it prevents the wolf from taking over my personality and my mind. I'm a harmless wolf with my human mind."

I continue to ask them questions about what they know and hold them the truth against. It takes a while but I notice they relax slowly but surely and by the end of the lesson they are pretty calm. 

"Prefects, could you please inform your seventh year housemates that they can cancel their Defence lesson on Monday morning. It's the first lesson after the full moon and even though I'll sleep through most of it, it takes a while to come back from the transformation, so I'll miss that class."

They nod and take a note. Then I plunge right into the first subject to treat in their fifth year.

**Sirius**

There is already a gaggle of students waiting when I reach my classroom. I quickly press a small kiss on Remus' cheek and move on, opening my classroom with my wand and flick on the light.

"In you go!" I order the students.

They move inside and take in the bright look of their new Potions classroom. After the dungeons this must seem like a ballroom for them, because their faces light up when they see it. I expect seventeen students in the class. Once they're all inside I tell them:

"Good morning, everyone! You'll be working in pairs, so I suggest you place yourself with the partners you prefer. Since you're an uneven number there's one group of three..."

I watch as they group themselves. Then they look at me expectantly and I start by taking the roster, looking at each student as they reply to my call. Nine Ravenclaws, six boys, three girls, eight Hufflepuffs, four boys and four girls. 

"Well. Thank you. We'll go into several different potions this year. The first one is going to be a typical wound closing solution. Now before we start I'd like to state the rules in this classroom, which I expect you to observe strictly, because you all know that accidents in Potions are always a bit more dangerous than elsewhere. First rule - fairness. You are helping yourself if you help others. Second rule - neatness. I want you to clean up after yourselves and everything you've cut up or spilled. Third rule - if you speak with each other, which I allow, then do so in hushed voices so you won't disturb others. Fourth rule - you share. Anything. When you work in pairs you should change in your duties, so everyone gets enough routine to create potions on their own. Then you will stick to everything Professor Snape ever taught you about measuring and weighing and timing - it's one of the vital parts of brewing successful potions. As you can see I've made a list of these rules on the board over there. Got that?"

They look a bit intimidated but I think they've got it.

"Good. Then I'd just like to mention that accidents CAN happen and I'm not going to explode on top of your cauldron if it happens. I'm pretty sure we can get along with each other without being nasty, eh?"

Then I send the recipe for today's potion to the board next to me and lecture them a bit about the ingredients. I use the same method I used at the Sunnegg and ask them questions. They're to read up about the potion in their textbook and start when they are ready. 

"All ingredients for this potion are in the storeroom at the back there. Once you're ready you can gather what you need. If you find questions to ask during your reading just ask."

They get to work. I walk through the class. They look at me surreptitiously but slowly they start asking questions and the tension dies down. After a while the first groups start to the storeroom to gather their ingredients. Now I have to watch out that I get all their possible mistakes. I notice it's harder since here I actually have to follow the strict schedule or I won't get through or my students will be too late elsewhere. These fourth years work quietly and with diligence, which is a joy to watch, so the last group is almost done by the time I have set them. The others have finished and their potions look mostly right. I get a sample of each potion with the names and class of the students. I send them to a small crate where I collect them and set them a short essay about the bit they had to read for the next week. I enter the homework assignment into my class journal and watch them as they clean up their workspace. Now I have a more difficult group, Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years. There are ten Gryffindors in this class and six Slytherins. 

It's a lecture class, so I while I lecture them about the properties of certain ingredients I also question them to check that they have taken the notes they should and that they have memorised a good part of what I say. I hand out my usual amount of house points for correct answers and find no need to deduct any at all. The kids are quite well behaved. 

After the fifth years the seventh years march into the classroom. They are a bit harder to control I notice, but I have the list of those students who are on probation for their entire remaining time at Hogwarts and I notice that one glance at said list is enough to keep the Slytherins in check. The Gryffindors are Ginny's old class. They must be a bit envious, that Ginny has actually finished her school time already and that she has been able to cut one whole year. There are still eight students in this class in Gryffindor. Ginny is not the only absent one, on my class list are two names with a cross behind. Both died in the Christmas break of their fifth year in a raid of some Death Eaters in their neighbourhood in Hogsmeade. 

Another lecture class. The period is over pretty quickly and I go back to my office for the last one before lunch. Remus comes in after his last lesson and we take a few moments for a few kisses. 

"How's it been?" he asks.

"Quite okay, thank you. Ask me again at the end of the week..."

He smiles. I brush some strands of hair out of his face and kiss him again. He leans into the kiss and holds me tight. And then I notice how little time we've had for such intimacies since the twins have come into our lives. We usually just fall into our beds at night, wanting nothing but a few precious hours of sleep. Thus I can hardly remember the last time we made love. I feel my body react to his kisses. And break away from one with regrets. 

"Not enough time, love..." I mumble.

"I know. But I'm missing you so badly. And I need you!"

"Same here. There will be a time when the twins have all their teeth and start sleeping through the night, love..."

He grins now. And says:

"Yes, but then there will be something else. Oh well, that's too bad. We'll get opportunities again..."

"Lunch? I'm hungry..."

"Yes, me too... I've just spent two lessons keeping Gryffindors and Slytherins apart."

"That bad?"

"Well, not too bad. The first years were easy to keep focused. It was their first Defence lesson after all. But the fourth years were trying to be pretty nasty with each other. So I had to deduct a few house points."

"Aww..."

We leave our office and go down the stairs to the Great Hall. Most of the students are already tucking in nicely. We find our places at the table and take a seat. Filius asks me how the morning went. I tell him and then Remus says:

"I have only three lessons this afternoon and you have four, don't you?"

"Yes."

"I'll go to our flat directly after class, okay?"

"Okay. I'll come by after class as well. Just take everything back to the office."

"Good."

"I miss the twins..."

"Me too. Which is why I want to go back right after class."

Lunch is over in no time and I head up to our office where I can make a decent espresso, which I take with me to the classroom, where I expect the third year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. They are very polite children who work most properly and I have great fun with them. Another double lesson with the sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins awaits me after them, but it passes quite decently. I'm packing my stuff together, take everything up to my office and drop it on my desk. Then I head down to our rooms. 

I find Remus with the twins in the living room, where the babies are lying on their thick blanket. He has suspended a mobile above them and they watch it. He's just sitting there watching the children. I go to our bedroom, take off my formal robes and slip into a pair of sweatpants and a jumper, then I sit down behind Remus and pull him into my arms. 

"Hey love!" I whisper.

He lays his head on my shoulder and turns his face to look at me and I kiss him tenderly. Gosh, he's just the most beautiful man I've ever met. No one can beat these loving amber eyes.

"Poppy came by just a moment ago, she's brought me something for the twins when they teeth again," he says.

"Oh, good! What did Winky say? Was everything okay?"

"She says so. I feel like I've abandoned them, love..."

"You didn't. We're here for them as much as we can, sweetheart."

"I know in my brain, but unfortunately my heart tells me something else."

I kiss him. He responds by breaking the kiss, turning around, so that he sits between my spread legs with his legs over my thighs. Then he closes up and kisses me back. I smile. Right now the twins are happy and we have a bit of time for a bit of snogging. 

**23.9.1998 / Sirius**

We've been tired constantly for the past five months. I think if there were only one baby it would be a bit easier and it might sleep through the night by now, but we have two and as soon as one starts to wail we're up in a dash to sooth it as quick as we can, because if one starts it usually wakes the other...

The only solution is probably to give them both their own room already now. We have wanted to wait, because we thought they'd probably want to be together. The whole shared the womb stuff. They do like to be together, but if they feel their teeth they cry and then they wake each other. So tonight we're taking Seraina's crib and dresser out to the other room and then we'll decorate it as the second nursery. That of course is fun. 

Three weeks into the term I'm getting my routine for the classes. Most of them are actually quite fun, but there's homework to grade and tests and that's a lot more than I've been used to so far. I think I'm also spending much more free time working on such things. I'm very glad that I've taught the fifth through seventh year potions before, so those are no problem as I have them documented and prepared. I'm just doing research to bring in some other potions for a change. First year is a lot more lectures than practice. I'm teaching them the proper treatment of ingredients and how to do exact measuring. The first years are really nice to teach, they're all so open and curious. 

By now I've also got through to most of those students who have been deathly afraid of Severus Snape's teaching style. The second years are easy, because they've been started off by Arabella. The third years up are all different. They seem to have relaxed a bit with Arabella's fair treatment, but the older ones still bear the marks of Snape. He's made almost all of them tremble, I really don't understand why. He's done an excellent job with the basic training of their skills, but why did he have to intimidate them that badly? 

Lunch time. I'm meeting Remus and we drop our stuff at our office before going down to the Great Hall for lunch. During the meal we talk about everything that's going on. I look out over all of those children who now have a chance to grow up happily with no more worries than their next Quidditch match or their next test. It makes me smile to see them all chatting mindlessly. It so reminds me of our schooldays here. When I close my eyes for a short moment I can see it all again. James making eyes at Lily. Remus, his nose buried in a book, myself trying to coax him to eat more or to talk to us. And Peter, sucking up to James. The last image I don't need, but back then Peter was a friend, we would all have laid our hands in the fire for him. 

"Lost in thoughts, Padfoot?" Remus asks softly next to me.

I smile.

"Can't but when I look over those kids," I reply.

"Don't dwell, Padfoot! It cannot heal if you dwell... rather think of James and Lily being with us often now."

It's true of course. The two of them are taking up residence here and at the Sunnegg very nicely. It's fun when one of them or both turn up in the classroom.


	4. Adult life starts

**25.9.1998 / Ron**

Almost four weeks of Auror training done. Justin and I are falling into our beds dog tired on most nights. We are getting trained hard and have a lot of physical exercise to go through. In the theory part we get bombarded with a ton of spells to learn, defensive, offensive, more shields and finally there are a lot of legal and strategic studies. It's really interesting, especially the strategy part. I wonder if there's any way to survive these two years. Tonks and Kingsley are doing some of the training. We're together with fifteen other people, from Hogwarts and elsewhere. I'm amazed that there are four Hufflepuffs in our group. 

We're happy to have the weekends. Friday after the last lesson we're off to the Sunnegg and usually share a nice hot bath before relaxing on our bed. We're missing Remus and Sirius, but they've announced that they'll spend the next weekend at the Sunnegg. This weekend we're almost alone. Parvati is at St. Mungo's, Draco is at that place he's exploring in France, Blaise and Padma are at Padma's parents' place and Mandy will be busy, too. So it's mainly Ginny and Ernie, Morag, Harry and Hermione and us. Dobby has dinner ready when we come back down from our room after the bath. Mm, now that's a lot better than the stuff we get at the Auror Headquarters canteen. One more reason to spend every weekend here at Sunnegg. 

The really good thing at the moment is that I've started to earn my own money. What a feeling to open up my own account at Gringotts and finally having something in there that I've earned and that is all mine. I know, that sounds childish, but for someone who's grown up with five older brothers and a younger sister in a very poor family this kind of independence means a lot. 

It's so good to find the room again where we've started out! I still love Justin as much as then. He's so good to me, too. He's always got those lovely romantic ideas what we could do that we haven't done yet. And there's a lot. We're not allowed much out from the Auror training. They actually demand we're back inside by eleven every night except Friday and Saturday. We have to be back every Sunday night at eleven. But that gives us OUR two nights every week which we thoroughly enjoy! 

This week we're both too tired to go out. Harry and Hermione have decided to go dancing tonight and ask us to come along, but we're just too knackered. Ernie, Ginny and Morag go along though. Let them go out and enjoy themselves, we will take advantage of the empty house for a nice relaxing romp in the bed! 

**Morag**

I love weekends... I love living in this place here again. After all I could have stayed for my last year, too, since I've not met anyone special at Hogwarts. Now that I can go out as I like I'm quite glad my parents support me and don't moan that I'm learning Muggle stuff. It's interesting and a great basis for the primary school I'd like to teach. I mean learning to read and write and do some calculating is the same for wizarding as it is for Muggle children. So now I find myself working through a load of Muggle subjects, besides my own language I learn to get a better grip at German, started French and then there's maths, history, chemistry, physics, geography, biology and more. But because I'm learning this in a correspondence course I have to be very disciplined in my daily work. I've become the guardian of the house so to speak, since I'm the only one who's here during the day. Dobby almost smothers me with his affection and care!

But thank Merlin it's the weekend. Ernie is driving. The rest of us has just started to learn. Hermione has received her learner's license a few days ago. We leave the car in a parking house and find a dancing club in Bern. It's a popular one so it's full of people. I'm a single, but that's not a problem here and soon I've danced with half a dozen people. Then I sit down at our table for a short break to collect my breath when I see a young woman at the next table. She's beautiful. She has that dark red hair, long, and she wears it open. There's no make-up visible. Her face is oval, I can't see the colour of her eyes, it's too dark for that. She has crossed her legs and one of them gently rocks with the rhythm of the music as she watches the dancers. I feel like a bucket of warm water has been emptied in my belly. I shake my head, but I can't stop staring. Suddenly she turns to me and looks into my eyes. I'm a bit shaken by my revelation, but I smile at her apologetically. She smiles back! 

"Hi! I'm Nicole, who are you?"

"My name's Morag. Are you alone here?"

"No, not really. My sister and her boyfriend are around somewhere, but I'm single. And you? I've seen you dancing with a bloke or two..."

"They just asked me, I'm single, too. Some of my friends are with me, two are married to each other and two have been together for a long time, but I'm still unattached."

We start talking over a fresh drink and I find out she's 25, studies veterinary medicine and has a ton of hobbies. I can't tell her I'm a witch, obviously, but I'm glad that I know enough about Muggles to cover that up. I can tell her that I'm doing the high school through correspondence and that I want to become a teacher. 

"Where do you live?"

"In a big farmhouse above Lützelflüh. We're quite a group of people there. The four I'm here with are among them."

"That sounds great."

"It is. We really like it a lot."

Harry and Hermione come to the small table to get refreshed. They notice us talking and Hermione beams:

"Making friends, Morag?"

"Looks like it - that's Nicole. Those two are Harry and Hermione, they've been married for almost two months now and they're sickeningly happy and sweet," I introduce them to each other. 

By the end of the evening Nicole and I have decided to meet again the next day and we plan to take an extended walk through the local zoo, which is in a big forest close to the centre of the town along the Aare river. I'm not astonished; she's told me that she loves animals. Has to, if she wants to become a vet. 

I'm looking forward to it. She seems very nice and she felt a bit out of place in that dancing club. I'm thinking about it while Ernie drives us home. He looks in the rear view mirror and asks:

"Hey, Morag, did you enjoy yourself tonight?"

"Yes, I did! Danced a bit and met someone nice... I should go out more."

Ernie laughs.

"Well, you've made a start."

"But she's a Muggle, isn't she?" Hermione asks.

"Yes, I'm quite sure she is. Well, I'll know for sure tomorrow. It's pretty hard to tell here. They look so much like everyone else..." I say.

"Yes, that's true. But she really sounded very nice."

**26.9.1998 / Morag**

The next day I'm apparating to that forest. It's easy to find a spot where I'm not going to be overseen. Then I walk to the place Nicole has named to meet her. I have to wait for five minutes, but then I can see her dark hair flying in the autumn wind. She wears jeans, boots, a shirt covered with a jumper and a warm jacket. I'm wearing something very similar and she laughs when she greets me:

"Hi, did you have to wait a long time for me? I'm sorry I'm a bit late, but the bloody bus wouldn't come..."

I feel a small jolt of happiness at her joyful voice. She leans in and places two small kisses on my cheeks and I say:

"No, just a couple of minutes. Are we going in?"

"Yes, I was planning to. This is quite a nice little zoo, but they are changing a lot of things around now... have you been here before?"

"Only once. And it's about three years since."

"Well, it's basically the same still, but as I said they are starting to change things around. I come here about once a month. Sometimes only for a walk in the forest, but sometimes I go into the Vivarium as well. That's what they call this part here."

We go inside the building, which I remember to be a tropical rainforest, so we quickly pay the fee and take off our warm things. She moves swiftly to the first corridor and I look at her from the side. Her kisses have sent jolts of pleasure through my body. Am I interested in her as a possible lover? I've never thought of girls as partners before. Not for me in any case. But now I stop short and start to reflect about my reaction to boys. They're like brothers to me, almost every single one and the ones I don't regard like brothers are usually enemies. I throw one more glance at Nicole. Her eyes are a pretty intensive blue. 

Three hours later we decide to have an early dinner and sit together in a small restaurant in the middle of the town. It's Italian and so I pick a pizza and she orders some wine to it and a salad which we share. I feel her eyes on me and look up. 

"You're beautiful, Morag," she tells me. 

I smile. Wow, is she turning around the same thoughts? 

"Thanks. You are too, by the way. That hair..."

"My best asset, I know!"

I don't really know what she likes about me. I'm a pretty plain girl, dark blonde, grey eyes, plain face, but okay, I'm fit, I'm quite tall, I've got a good figure. All sorts of things that can be said about Nicole, too.

"My sister wanted to take me out again tonight, but I said I was occupied with something else. She's 27 and thinks I should finally start having boyfriends. Only I'm not interested. First of all I've got enough to do with studying and then I don't think I'm interested in men in general," Nicole says.

"I haven't been either. But it only just occurred to me. I was at a boarding school in Scotland for several years. Boys and girls school. But they never really mattered."

"Is it?"

"Yes. Actually for two years I've been home-schooled and our two teachers are a couple. They're gay. The house I'm living in is theirs and the others you met yesterday were classmates. The two are now back teaching at the boarding school, but they gladly left us the use of this house. They're coming back for vacations and such. It's been a great time with them."

"Gay teachers... so you have no problem with homosexuals?"

"No, not at all. We've got another gay couple among our group. I'm fine with them. Where do you live?"

"With my sister - she's working full time as a teacher now and we've got a nice flat not very far from here. My parents can give me some money and I earn some with tutoring. How do you manage?"

"Well, I don't have to contribute to the house, so I'm well off with what my parents can give me. I'm an only child, too, and they love me a lot. I don't need much."

We talk some more while we eat and then she asks:

"Want to come and see where I live? We'll be there quickly. How do you get back to where you live? Do you drive?"

"Train. Last bit I call my friends and they come and get me..."

"Oh, good then. When do you have to leave if you want to catch the last train?"

"Leaves the station some time after eleven. I think eleven thirty-five."

"Good. Just to know how much time we have."

To get to her flat we have to take a bus and then walk for about ten minutes. It's on the third floor of an apartment building, has three bedrooms and a living room, the kitchen and the bath. It looks like it's an older flat, but it's furnished quite nicely with a mix of styles. 

"We just got together what everyone wanted to get rid of because they didn't like it anymore. So it's a bit of a funny mix now. We're of course replacing a lot of the junk now. My sister is staying at her boyfriend's place tonight. Music?"

"Yes, please. Something soft, if you don't mind."

"I agree."

Then she makes some tea and I sit down on a sofa. When she sits down next to me I notice to my horror that my wand is still in the back pocket of my jeans and that it's sticking out. Shit! I try to hide it, but she sees it looking out and says, pointing at it:

"What's this?"

Now I know she's a Muggle. Can I explain this thing away? I decide to pull it out and lay it on the coffee table. 

"What does it look like?"

"Well, that's how I imagine a wand to look like... don't tell me you use it as such!"

"What if I did?"

"Well, I'd think it a bit weird. Do you do magic tricks?"

"No tricks. I shouldn't tell you this, but I forgot that I had it in my pocket. It IS a wand. It's made of oak with a core of a dragon heartstring."

She stares at me.

"What?" she whispers.

"I'm a witch. I'm sorry, I think, I'll go if you're uncomfortable with it. I really shouldn't tell you this..."

"No, don't go, sorry! I'm just too baffled for words. You're a witch? You mean, really a witch?"

"Yes."

"Can you show me how you use this wand?"

"I'm not sure I should. I don't really know how the local Ministry of Magic reacts to magic being performed in front of Muggles..."

"...Muggles?"

"Sorry. Non-magical people in our slang."

"Fascinating. I wish you could."

"Well, if you don't want me to go then I guess I can at least tell you that I'm not dependent on the train system, because I can apparate home."

"How does that work?"

"I vanish here and turn up there. Instantaneous."

"So - your friends yesterday - are they magical, too?"

"Yes."

"Oh dear!"

I have nothing left but to tell her all she wants to know. When we have emptied the tea pot I make fresh tea with my wand and now she believes me. I wait for a visit from a Ministry official, but nothing happens. Don't they monitor this here? Well, you learn something new every day. 

When I have to go she gets up and I say:

"Don't be too shocked, I'll just vanish in a second..."

"It's okay, you've warned me..."

And then she closes up and pulls me in a hug, which I return. She's a few centimetres taller than I am and when she leans in to kiss me, I accept the kiss and respond. I can feel one of her hands moving down my back and it feels heavenly. I think, I'm falling in love with her! We let go and she asks a bit breathless:

"Can I see you again, Morag? I really like you and..."

"Yes. Next week?"

"Do you have a phone number?"

"Yes, I do..."

At that moment I hear the ring on my Commumirror. I dig it out of my bag and take the call. It's Hermione and she's a bit worried, because I'm so late. 

"Everything's fine, Hermione, I'm just about to apparate home."

"Oh, good. See you later then!"

"In a couple of minutes. I'm just giving Nicole our phone number."

"Fine!"

Nicole stares at the little mirror.

"How does that work?" she asks.

I grin.

"I've just spoken with the inventor of this. Harry gave it a name, it's called a Commumirror. Well, Hermione was only just clever enough to enhance the original two way mirror spell and now there's a whole system working and she's made a fortune before she left school this past summer."

"Wow. Okay, I have something to write - what's the number?"

I give her the number and take hers. Then I pack the Commumirror away and get into my jacket. We kiss once more and she says:

"So I'll call you and we fix the date next week, okay?"

"Fine with me, Nicole. Good night! - Oh, and please, tell no one about me! Muggles aren't supposed to know about us!"

"Good, I won't say anything."

"I'm glad..."

"Good night, Morag!"

I pick up my bag and my wand, wave it and apparate away. A few moments later the phone rings. I pick it up and it's Nicole who laughs and says:

"That was bloody frightening, Morag! Can you come and go just like that? Anywhere?"

I laugh, too, and say:

"Yes, I can. Though some long stretch apparating can be very draining, so we do it in jumps."

"Crazy! Well, see you next week!"

"See you next week!"

Hermione is still up, reading in the front room. She has a couple of very thick books out and works on something, taking notes and mumbling the text she reads.

"Time to go sleep, 'Mione!" I say and wish her a good night.

"Yes, you're probably right. Good night, Morag..."

**Hermione**

I wonder if Morag is getting together with Nicole as a lover. She looks very happy in any case when she waves and leaves the front room. I look at the watch and think she's right, it's really time to go to sleep.

Harry is lying on our bed and still reading, too. I have passed at the bathroom on the way and just get out of my bathrobe. Saturday night and we're going to enjoy it thoroughly!

**30.9.1998 / Remus**

It's been easier since we've given Seraina her own room. We're able to cast one-way silencing charms so one baby won't wake the other anymore. And that gives us at least one hour more sleep every night. Last night, Seraina has slept more than five hours through the night for the first time. Poppy's soothing gel has helped a lot. Denny is also responding well to it. Both of them seem to fare better in their own separate rooms. 

I'm preparing my needed stuff for the next few lessons. I have third years today and that means several dark creatures. These are usually quite fun lessons and those third years are eager and curious. Today it's about Boggarts. Since I haven't found any yet it's only theory, but it's a good opportunity to talk about fear in general and fear as expressed through Boggarts. 

In the afternoon I welcome Tonks. She's going to be the Ministry supervisor for my lessons about the Imperius curse. I think, just because right now there's no dark overlord in the vicinity it's still important that each of the students at least know how this curse feels. I have demonstrated the Unforgivables on mice. Now I want them to learn to throw the Imperius off. When Tonks and I enter the classroom, the students look at us nervously. They know what the topic of the day will be. I have told them that I will cast the curse on them and that I'll have a supervisor from the Ministry to ensure that they will not be forced to do things that are less than legal. 

"Okay, I will now put each of you under the curse. You will feel a sensation of no care at first. It feels like nothing can worry you anymore, but as soon as I tell you to do something you will feel compelled to follow that order. However there is a tiny leftover of your own mind. Try to reach this and just say 'no' to whatever I ask you to do. As soon as you do the curse is thrown off. But you will notice it's much more difficult to actually do it. What do you think if I let Tonks here cast the curse on me? I don't know if I can still throw it off, it's been a very long time since I've had to. Oh, and this is for the record: the wand that will be used today is not my normal wand. It's one of the Aurors' reserve wands, so I won't have Unforgivables on my record."

The students look a bit more eager now. I toss the wand in Tonks' hands and she gives me a very mean grin.

"What should I make you do, Moony?"

"Nothing too embarrassing, please!" I beg.

To my great annoyance James is there today and he doesn't hesitate to whisper something in Tonks' ear. She grins even wider and I dread what it's going to be. 

"Jolly good idea, James. Are you ready, Remus?"

I turn to the students:

"Not that any Dark wizard or witch will ask you whether you're ready before they cast that curse..." 

They snicker. The Gryffindors are as eager to see how I will fare as the Slytherins. Tonks casts the curse on me and immediately it's like I feel like sitting on a cushion of clouds. From very far away I can hear her voice as she tells me:

"Why don't you just start to do a little solo ballet dance - spin, splits, toe-dance..."

'What? Is she out of her mind? No way! Tell her no!' a voice screams in my head.

I'm trying to do what she wants, but then I think I follow that voice and say:

"No!"

The curse lifts. Tonks turns to the class and says:

"Sorry, people, I thought he'd be more rusty than this! Looks like he's got his wits together!"

I'm glad for that, truly. Toe-dance! Now really, how embarrassing can you get. She grins and hands me the wand back. 

"Who dares first?" I ask. 

Mary Lewis, a Gryffindor girl makes the start. I can make her jump a few times, but all of a sudden she must have heard the little voice, because she throws it off. 

"Very well, Mary. That's ten points to Gryffindor for the courage to be the first and ten more for throwing it off! - Who's next?"

One by one they all come forth. One of the Slytherins is very anxious and he hardly dares to look at me when I lift the wand to cast the curse.

"Imp..." I say, but he interrupts me.

I'm concerned at his pleading, stop and ask him: 

"Sixtus, would you please come to my office after classes? You can tell me in the privacy of the office what's troubling you, okay?"

He only nods. 

Sixtus Quirrell. Another one of the same family that Harry's first DADA teacher came from. When the boy knocks on my door later that afternoon I open it and let him enter. I lead him over to the living room area and say:

"Take a seat, Sixtus. What made you so afraid this afternoon? You could see that I didn't force anything really bad on any of you."

"Yes, I could see that, but still..."

"Did anyone cast it on you before, Sixtus?" I ask.

At first he looks at me with the deer in the headlights kind of eyes, but then he nods.

"Who?" I ask softly.

He swallows and looks down at his feet. 

"My Uncle Ferguson..." he finally admits.

"When was that?"

"Years ago. I was seven," he whispers.

That sounds very bad. What would his uncle want a seven year old do?

"Are you aware of what he wanted you to do?"

He nods and I can see tears start to drip from his eyes. Most probably that man was after sexual abuse, I think, but I'm still shocked when, after a few more encouraging words from me the boy starts to hem and haw. After another while he tells me with more determination that his uncle had used the spell whenever he was alone with the boy and that he made the child give him blow-jobs. I almost retch! 

"Sixtus, who knows about this?"

"No one. He told me he'd kill me if I told anyone. Please, don't tell anyone else, Professor!"

"This is a very heavy crime, Sixtus. Do you know if your uncle had any association with the Death Eaters?"

He nods. 

"Is he still undetected?"

Another nod.

"That should interest Tonks. She's one of those Aurors who are still on the lookout for the remaining Death Eaters. How is the relationship between your parents and your uncle?"

"I don't really know. They might be afraid of him..."

I sigh.

"Sixtus, this is too much for me to handle alone. I'd like to have your permission to talk about this with your head of house, your former head of house and the headmaster. Then we could find a way to help you rid of that heavy load you bear. No child should be left alone with abuse and sexual abuse is just about the worst kind. I promise not to tell anyone else, okay?"

He thinks about it for a while, then he asks:

"Can you really help me?"

"I can find ways, I think. We have to be careful. You don't want to find yourself in danger. If your uncle is a Death Eater it will probably put him into Azkaban for the rest of his life."

"Okay. Then tell the headmaster."

I let him go and he crosses Sirius while opening the door. Sirius closes the door behind him and nods in the retreating boy's direction:

"What's he done?"

"Rather ask what's been done to him... I promised confidentiality, so I'd better not tell. Can't have been nice."

"Abuse?" he asks.

"You're very close."

"Aw! His parents beat him up?"

"Much worse. You remember, we had the Imperius curse lesson today?"

"Yes, I've seen Tonks. She said she'd come by our rooms later on," Sirius says brightly.

"Oh, good. I might have a tip for a so far undetected Death Eater."

"She'll jump on that."

"I'll have to ask her how sexual abuse of children is being punished in the wizarding justice system."

Siri's eyes widen. Then he points with his thumb to the door and asks:

"Sixtus?"

I nod.

"Oh Merlin!"

"It's his uncle. He seems to be terrified that someone learns his secret."

"Horror. Absolute horror..."

I pick up my books and the essays I still have to grade and Sirius puts his things in order, then we leave the office and spell lock it. We take everything to our rooms and are happy to meet our twins still awake and seemingly quite content. We miss them a lot during the day. So we pick them up and go back to the Great Hall for dinner. There are two high chairs for the babies now, we put them inside and they can be with us while we eat. Both still get formula for a while, so we have their bottles with us. When I see Albus coming in I ask him:

"Albus, do you have some time for me tonight?"

"Of course, Remus. Do you want to come to my office after dinner?"

"Yes, please. Could you also ask Professor Vector?"

"I can. Does it concern someone in Slytherin?"

"Yes. And no, it's not someone in trouble now, only I can't say more out here."

"It's good, Remus, you don't need to. I'll ask her up."

"Thank you."

We get our plates filled and start to eat, while the twins sit in their chairs, babble and play with a spoon. Sirius transfigures Seraina's spoon into a rattle. She's delighted and grins at him. At the moment she's sporting this really sexy baby grin. We've sent some pictures to Harry and Ginny to show them, because we both think it's extremely cute. Denny drops his spoon and stretches his hand after the rattle, but Sirius repeats his trick for him, too. I smile every time I watch them. Sirius is so cute with our children and I don't think I've ever seen any man being more tender with his children! Once we've eaten he pulls Seraina out of her chair and offers her the warmed bottle. She looks up into his eyes and suckles eagerly and quickly. I'm a bit behind him, but I can already hear Denny's wail as he wants his food as well. 

"Yes, my hungry young tyrant, here's your food now," I promise, chuckling and put the warming spell over Denny's bottle while I take him out of his chair. 

"He's so cute, Remus!" Filius remarks next to me. 

"Isn't he though? But as hard as it is I have to start saying 'no' to him sometimes. It pains me, but they can't have and do everything they want."

He smiles.

"That must be hard. Unfortunately I've never had any children myself."

"Which is a shame, Filius!"

"Yes, well, if you've got my size it's quite hard to find a fitting partner who's not a house-elf. And while I'm really fond of our elves, I wouldn't exactly want to marry one."

I laugh. No, I don't think I would, either.

"Just don't let Mrs Potter know that I've said that," he chuckles.

"I don't think that would be wise, she'd shoot me with her death glare," I admit.

After dinner I keep Denny on my arms and follow Albus up to his office. He stops to ask Carla Vector to come along. Up in his office Carla and I sit down in chairs in front of his desk.

"What is it, Remus?" Albus asks.

"Today I've had my first lesson placing the fourth years under the Imperius curse. This is about Sixtus Quirrell. Fourth year Slytherin. He was extremely anxious and stopped me from putting him under the curse. I noticed he was really scared out of his wits and so I halted and asked him to come to my office after classes. He came and he explained why he had been afraid. He's been under the curse as a seven years old. The caster was his uncle. Ferguson Quirrell."

Both Carla and Albus, are staring at me in shock. Carla asks the same question I had asked the boy:

"What could it have been that Quirrell could have wanted from a seven years old boy? - Oh holy shit! - Sex?"

I nod. 

"He asked for confidentiality, but when he told me some of the gory details I asked for his permission to involve you two, since this is way over my head. It seems that Ferguson Quirrell asked his little nephew to give him blow-jobs. I almost gagged when Sixtus told me! The 'good' thing is - Ferguson Quirrell is a Death Eater, in other words I can give Tonks a tip and he'll probably be behind bars VERY soon. Sixtus fears for his life, because he's been threatened respectively. You know that Death Eaters aren't usually very forgiving people. So - it's up to you two. Could you speak to him, Carla?"

"Yes, I'll have to even. If you give Tonks the tip then we should prepare Sixtus, that this is one more crime for which his uncle will have to be charged. Sexual abuse with a small child is so abominable in my eyes - and thankfully not only in my eyes! - that I just can't not do anything."

"This is really a terrible thing, I agree with you. Please talk to Mr. Quirrell, Carla and you pass your information to Miss Tonks, Remus, because holding such information back would also be against the law. I'd like to be informed about the progress in the matter, Carla."

"Yes, Albus, I'll keep you informed. I'm glad it's come out to the light, thank you, Remus. I'll take it out of your hands now."

"Thank you, Carla."

I shift Denny on my arms. He's half asleep by now. Carla smiles and strokes him tenderly over the cheek when she gets up to leave. I follow her and we both wish Albus a good night and leave his office. On our way down we're talking about the children.

"They are unbelievably cute, Remus. It's good to have small children at the castle. Nice to see them grow up here! You must both be very happy now."

"Happy doesn't even begin to express how we feel, Carla. There's so much love we all share. And they start to respond now, which is something that we've awaited for quite some time. The smiles and laughs come much more spontaneous now, as soon as they recognise us. They react differently to different people."

"Yes... Denny is much more lively when Sirius has him."

"You're not the first who has found that out. I have no idea how they know that. Both of them are like that, when they're with him. Harry swears they look mischievous when they're on Sirius' arms."

Carla laughs. Then she wishes me a good night, because our paths separate us from here. I go down the stairs to our flat. Sirius has already given Seraina her bath. I take Denny to the bathroom to give him his. This is always fun, as he really enjoys it and he is nicely tired after it. I dry him and get him dressed again, then I'm rubbing Poppy's gel on his gums. After that I just have to pick my son up, give him the pacifier and hold him to my chest for five minutes and he's out of it. I gently lay him down in his cradle and cover him with a warm woollen blanket. Because of the colder temperatures here both children are lying on a sheep's hide. He looks cute on it, snuggling into the warmth. Somehow I can never get enough watching him sleep. Then I go over to Seraina's room to have a look at her sleeping. She looks frail, but she's quite strong and once she starts wailing we jump! 

But for now everything is okay and Sirius and I meet back in the living room. He lights a fire and I sink on my favourite spot on the sofa and lean back with a sigh. The next thing I know I have a lap full of Sirius who starts to kiss me like there would be no tomorrow. Ooh, but this is a nice assault! I snake my arms around him and hold him. He sighs deeply into the kiss and not long into this bit of snogging we hear Uncle Alphard chuckle.

"Missed it, didn't you? That's why I never had any kids myself..."

Sirius looks up at the wall and grins.

"Actually, Uncle Alphard - they make it so much more precious for us..."

I look at Sirius. He nods over to the bedroom and I nod. He gets up and we say:

"Good night, Uncle Alphard!"

It's early, but we don't care, we undress each other, hurry to the bathroom and get through the routine quickly, then we're back in the bedroom and pull the curtains closed. I push Sirius to the bed and start to nuzzle his neck while I feel his hands on my back, pulling me close. I go back to kissing him. Mm, he tastes nice of fresh mint from brushing his teeth. I rake my hands through the heavy black tresses of hair that spread over the pillow. 

"Do you even remember when we were up to having sex the last time?" he asks playfully.

"Not the foggiest. But I know that I want you right now! I'm looking forward to the weekend and I do hope that the cuteness of the twins wins us some babysitters for one or both evenings..." I admit.

He laughs. I feel the vibration on his collarbone, which I nibble and kiss. He sighs right into his laughter. My tongue glides gently over his flesh and I lap the salty taste from his skin. I feel like turning into the wolf and treat his whole body with a bath from my tongue. Next thing I know is that my long rosy wolf tongue slurps over his chest. His nipples react instantly. He moans in a low voice and buries his hands in the scruff of my neck. 

"Mmm, Moony! Just don't stop..."

No fear, it's giving me thrills I've never thought possible. He writhes and moans underneath me and keeps caressing me over my back. That wolf is pretty sensitive I find out... I've only done this once before, but this time it's different, because I'm not the werewolf, I'm in my Animagus form and it's a mighty turn-on...

"Feel like going out for a run with you..." he whispers.

I turn back and reply: "You'll get one in five days." 

He laughs and pulls me close.

"But then you'll be the werewolf again. While that's perfectly okay, I never got to run with Moony when he was just the wolf..."

"But then Winky will have to come and watch over the twins until we're back..."

"I call her."

Ten minutes later the canines are outside and run to the forest. It's amazing how differently I feel the forest now. I am fully aware, a wolf, but still myself completely. Though the werewolf is high in my blood, since the moon is waxing he's content. I howl and yip and look for my mate who follows me with an air of: 'Cool it, an old man isn't the Hogwarts Express anymore!'

I love how I can read you. I'm hard just thinking of you right now. I wonder if we're not spoiling a perfectly good opportunity to make love to our heart's content, but then you close up, hold me down and start nipping me all over and finally lick my opening with abundance. I howl again, it's so good. I flop down and turn around, showing you the state of my cock and you rise to the challenge, lick it until I almost go mad. I know I can't come this way in my wolf form, but I don't really care, because the friction is so good, that I keep howling. 

Siri nudges me until I'm up again, then he quickly mounts me and I feel a very sharp pain as he enters me. Sirius' howl meets mine and when he starts pushing I can feel him swelling up inside of me. Merlin, this feels good. I hope it never ends, and it does take a long time, but finally he comes, shuddering, pushing frantically deep inside and I can feel his seed spurting out of his cock, which he can now pull back. I'm still bone hard and I chase him up with a few bites until he runs for a while, then I stop and mount him. It's not easy to penetrate, he yelps, but I'm pushing forward fast, then rest so he can get used to it. He whines a bit and I can feel him push backwards into me. I start to thrust. It's like I remember from three years ago. We haven't repeated the experience, but now I really look forward to it, because it takes a while longer to reach my orgasm than in my human form. I push and thrust until I can feel the climax building up. The moment is there and I find release with another howl. We tumble down on the soft ground, which is nicely covered with freshly fallen leaves. I'm still breathing hard. Sirius turns around and licks me. I look up and he plants a quick lick over my snout. 

For an hour or so we just run and play through the forest. It's still quite early, not even nine o'clock and we hope no one has seen us as we return to the castle through a back door. We reach our rooms. Sirius transforms and opens the door, then closes it behind me. We're both slightly naked and slightly muddy, so we don't linger and go and take a shower first and then a hot bath. When we return to the living room in sweat clothes and thick socks, Uncle Alphard asks in a very amused tone:

"Now where have you two been that you turn up back here like two wild boars from a mud bath?"

"Just played some in the forest... naturally we get muddy. That's what showers are there for," Sirius retorts.

"Boys! You'll never grow up, will you?"

"I try hard not to, Uncle Alphard."

Alphard chuckles and says:

"That's why I always liked you, Sirius! And that's why I loved to give your family a shock by only passing my money to you and Andromeda. Is she still well, by the way?"

"Yes, she is. And both of them survived, Ted and Andromeda. Andy told me it wasn't easy, but she is doing fine now. After the lack of personnel at the Ministry both changed to a position there."

"Oh, that's good to hear."

"I'm sure you know how my family tried to dispute your last will? You had one hell of a lawyer there, you know that? Amazingly cool and never cowered neither under my father's wrath nor Uncle Rigel's..."

"Yes, I've heard some of the discussions through Phineas. Since there was no portrait left depicting myself in your family's place I couldn't go there myself."

"Don't think Phineas did you any justice, now did he?"

"Not exactly, but he did supply me with a lot of amusement! The more he got angry the more I snickered."

"He used to scold me every time I had to go to Dumbledore's office! What a disgrace to the family I was..."

"Slytherin! I was a Ravenclaw like Andromeda, so I didn't suffer too badly when I was young, but I suppose I'd have been in the same shoes as you were if I had been a Gryffindor."

Sirius sits down next to me and both of us start working on grading some of the papers we have back. I get a lot done now. Funny how that short escapade outside has energised me and woken me up. I'm not feeling so tired and like a log anymore. 

"Nights we can get several hours of sleep in a row really do us a lot of good, don't they?" I ask.

"You're telling me. This was really good, Remus! Being out in the fresh air and running! I'm feeling so much better now. I thought I'd only just want to go to bed when I got back from dinner, and now I find I'm focused and awake again."

"I was just thinking about that, too. Maybe we should do that more often."

"The running or the sex?" he smirks.

"Both," I reply.

He grins. 

We don't go to bed very late. It's eleven and we can get a solid six hours of sleep thanks to Poppy's gel, which we only have to apply once more just before we go to sleep. Our little ones seem to drop the need for the feeding before midnight. That's really a relief, because it means we can put them to bed at eight or just a bit after eight and they should be sleeping until the early morning. 

When I wake up again it's because Denny is calling us. We have two sets of Extendable Ears in the two rooms so we can hear them even when they're not wailing at the top of their voices. Sirius sits up and yawns. We grab a pair of boxers and pull it up, then we walk over to the children's rooms. I get Denny and warm the bottle, then I sit down on the rocking chair and let him suckle his early breakfast while I'm still dozing a bit. I enjoy this early morning feeding, because I'm still a bit sleeping, but I'm awake enough to communicate with the baby in my arms. Denny has his tiny hands on mine while I hold the bottle for him. When he's done I hold him up and once he's hiccupped the air he's swallowed along with a bit of milk, I can enjoy my well rested and alert baby. I check the little teeth, which are finally breaking through.

"There's that first tooth now, Denny! It's out and that will hurt you a lot less now... though it will start somewhere else soon."

He smiles at me, then gurgles something and grabs for my hair. I'm holding him to my chest and get up to change his nappy. Then I take him over to the bedroom, where I'm getting back into bed to get some more rest, before I have to get up. Sirius brings Seraina and for half an hour it's family cuddling time. Sirius gets up first. It's half past six and we have a lot of time to take our shower and go through the routine in the bathroom. I'm keeping the children on the bed. Sirius returns and gets dressed, then picks the children up to get them dressed for the day and washed. I'm going to the bathroom. Another day starts...

**5.10.1998 / Sirius**

Another full moon. The second since we're back here and no one thinks much when Remus cancels the first class in the morning. Moonset is not too late yet, so he only needs to cancel one. The children get some homework for the time. 

The weather is cold, wet and generally unfriendly. Remus transforms in our bedroom and then comes out to stretch out in front of the fire for a while. The twins are still awake and I'm only just feeding them their evening meal. Remus puts his little snout on Denny's belly while the boy suckles. Denny's distracted and grabs for Remus' whiskers, which he normally really hates, but he wouldn't budge, because it's one of our children. Denny chuckles, but then he needs to swallow and that makes for a very funny sound. Once he's done with the bottle he's getting a terrible hiccup immediately. I let him sit on my knees. Remus is back and tickles Denny by pushing his snout into the baby's side. Denny giggles and smiles at the wolf. I wish I'd have a camera right now, because the image is just so funny and sweet. At that moment there's a flash and I notice Winky taking a photo. I smile. She's sometimes so perceptive that it's creepy. I smile at her and thank her. 

"You're so sweet, Winky, that was what I just thought I should do!"

Seraina starts to wail now and wants her food, too. I pass Denny to Winky and pick my daughter up from her blanket. She shuts up quickly and when I offer her the bottle the tears vanish in a second. She's doing very well. Denny only has his first tooth, but in Seraina's mouth are already three and the second incisor on top is ready to break through. Of course that means there are still quite a lot of them coming and to be honest I fear them. If my poor children are suffering that badly with the incisors, how bad will it be with the canines and the molars? Days before the tooth comes through they get feverish, eat less, their cheeks are glowing red and they sleep less. Poppy's gel really helps a lot now, so we can all sleep a bit better. She also gave us a specially designed sleep charm for babies. That should help them a bit as well. And us. It's only been a couple of nights, but the rest we got has been welcomed greatly. 

Both children fed, we let them lie on their blanket for another while, before I'm taking them to bed. Remus is rolled up on the warm rug in front of the hearth. I'm taking another picture, because he looks so beautiful. He'd hate to hear it of course, but I love my own little wolf. I can just hear his protest: LITTLE??? 

I start with Denny again and take him over to his room. His crib is charmed with the sleep charm, I change his nappy, put on his pyjama, rub the gel on his gums and lay him down in his crib. He's still babbling something, so I give him the pacifier and his own little teddy bear. It's a very small and soft one, which he can already grab. Denny snaps the bear up and suckles on the pacifier and it doesn't take him long to fall asleep. I watch him for another minute and then go to pick up Seraina who's already half asleep. She wakes up when I change her nappy and get her dressed in her pyjama. I apply the gel on her gums as well. Then I hold her on my arm for a moment and kiss her goodnight. 

"Sleep well, my little love! Papa will be well again tomorrow morning."

Seraina gets her pacifier and teddy as well. I watch her sleeping for a while and then return to the living room. I've got some work still and do it while Remus snoozes in front of the fire. At half past ten I look up and ask:

"How about hitting the hay?"

He gets up immediately and nods. We wish Uncle Alphard a good night and go to bed. Remus waits for me to pull back the blankets, then he hops on the bed and I follow him as soon as I've undressed.

**9.10.1998 / Justin**

Gods, I'm knackered. I knew the training would be fairly hard, but this hard? I'm so glad I'm still able to apparate to the Sunnegg after all that. Remus and Sirius are already there with the twins. They look tired, but content. The twins are super sweet. It seems they've grown so much since we've seen them last. 

I don't think we'll go out tonight. We're just too knackered. Ron is just as tired, so we just share our news with the others, eat dinner and then vanish up to bed. When we hear that the twins have their own room at Hogwarts we offer to let go of Ron's and use my room, so they can give Ron's to one of the twins. 

"Well, we think they can stay together for another while when we're here. But sooner or later it'll have to be, so thank you very much!" Remus says.

"That's okay, it's your house after all! We'll clear my stuff out tomorrow," Ron says. 

Draco, Parvati and George come in and happily join us at the dinner table. They are bursting with news about the site Draco has investigated for the fun park. "Dragon's Tales" will be set up somewhere south of Grenoble in the French Alpes Maritimes. Draco says it's a beautiful area, lots of mountainous forests away from the ski resorts. He's bought several square kilometres of land there and he, Fred, George and Lee Jordan will start charming the area Muggle secure soon. Every square centimetre will need Muggle repelling charms, off the roads of course. 

"We're now starting negotiations with the French Ministry of Magic to get permission to set up the fun park. They seem very interested in our work though and provided that we employ at least 70 % French witches and wizards we're getting the go ahead soon. They don't mind a bit of wizarding tourism at all," Draco tells us.

Parvati is smiling. I think she really likes to see Draco so involved with a project. Gives him something to focus on. I ask her how her apprenticeship has started.

"Very well, thank you. At the moment it's still a bit boring and I need to learn a lot of routine stuff, but the healers are great and they are giving me a lot of opportunities to learn. At the moment I'm doing basic nursing stuff, but it will soon be getting better. They do that so we become familiar with hospital routines and the basic needs of the patients. It's really interesting."

"Sounds great..."

Morag is also busy. She tells us about her latest courses and that she'll have to go to the school in Zürich for one of the first Saturday classroom lessons.

"I thought that was a correspondence training?" Harry asks.

"Yes, but we still have tests and such and there are classroom lessons about every two months. For that I have to go there."

"I see. - Are you meeting Nicole again tonight?" he asks her.

"Yes. Right after dinner in fact. She's been busy studying for something that will be tested on Monday, but she told me she wouldn't do anything after seven tonight. I'll apparate over in a while."

"Good."

It seems slowly but surely that there's a bit more between Nicole and Morag than pure friendship. Wonder if they already found that out. I look at Ron.

"I'd like to go to bed, love! I'm dead tired."

"So am I, Justin. Sorry folks, we've had a horribly exhausting week so we'll be good boys and go to sleep early tonight."

"That's okay. Do you want to go out tomorrow evening? Because Harry and I have a lot to study and would like to stay home tonight. We can spend tomorrow night either out or together..." Hermione suggests.

"We don't need to go out if you'd prefer to stay here tomorrow! Would be just as nice," I say.

"Good!"

It seems that we're not the only ones who are tired. Remus and Sirius seem to be pretty down as well. Both have a briefcase full of what seems like a ton of papers to grade. The twins seem pretty nice though and once they're fed, they go to sleep. 

"We have to play a bit nasty and sleep charm their cribs... they're teething and it troubles them a lot, so we help them and us. The past week has been a lot better than what we had before. Everyone is a lot calmer this way," Sirius tells us.

Ron and I get up and wish everyone a nice evening. We're out of it as soon as we hit the bed! 

Morag

I'm apparating right into Nicole's flat. Her sister is at her boyfriend's again, so we're all alone. She welcomes me with a warm embrace and I assault her mouth with a fiery kiss. She opens her lips and my tongue finds its way over to hers. Mm, this is good. It feels so right and the sparks in my body tell me that this is home. She clings to me and moans softly into the kiss. When we finally part minutes later she says:

"Hi!"

"Hi, Nicole!"

She's beautiful again tonight. I caress her face and kiss her again. She looks at me and says:

"Do we take this on to my bedroom?"

"I think, we should!" I reply.

"Good! It's over here, come! When do you have to go home?"

"I'm an adult, Nicole, I can stay as long as I want. I told them not to expect me before tomorrow morning."

"Great!"

She leads me to her room, which is a lovely square room furnished with lots of bookcases and a desk, her queen sized bed and a large wardrobe. She turns her stereo on and soft music fills the room. By now I know she adores Mike Oldfield and Pink Floyd a lot. I also like those and have nothing to complain about her choice of music. Tubular Bells starts and she kisses me again. I have yet to take off my warm jacket. She does that for me and slides it down my shoulder. I find my way with my hands under her jumper and the t-shirt to find her soft skin. She sighs and continues to take off one piece of my clothing after the other. When she reaches my bra she whispers:

"I've never done this before, Morag. You'll have to tell me what you like..." 

"I will. And you'll have to help me, yes?"

"Yes..."

She unhooks my bra. I'm not getting through to her as quickly and force her to stand still for a moment so I can pull the jumper and the t-shirt over her head. She giggles. I softly stroke over her now naked shoulders on the way to the hooks of her bra, which I undo.

"Merlin, you are beautiful..." I whisper.

"Merlin?" she repeats and grins.

"Wizard lingo..." I mumble.

"Oh. I see."

For a while we just stand there, kiss and caress each other. I think, every nerve in my body is vibrating and singing! Then we continue undressing each other, but it takes about half an hour until we're finally both naked and on her bed. I pull her onto me. She kisses me again and her hand goes back to caress my breast. Mm! Gods, this is good. She follows her hands with her mouth and starts licking around one of my nipples, then pulls it into her mouth to suck it and nip it with her teeth. 

"Oh, Nicole! So good, so good!"

"Like that, eh?" 

I nod and push her head back down on my nipple. She picks it up again and all the while she travels with her hand over my body. I mirror her movements and caress her back, her sides, her butt, which is nice and round. I lightly pull my fingernails over her flesh and I hear her moan onto my nipple. She lets it go and blows on it. Wow! I can feel that right down to my clit! 

"Merlin, Nicole!"

She looks up and grins. Then she quickly kisses me and tells me:

"I've never done this before, but I've read a lot of descriptions and I've fantasised quite a bit, I hope I'm doing it right, love!"

"The way this feels - yeah, you're definitely doing it right!"

Ten minutes later she's all over me and I get kissed from top to bottom. I enjoy it and vow to give it back to her as soon as I can. She's making me feel like I'm in heaven. We're so immersed that we haven't heard the door to the flat being opened and closed. All of a sudden there's someone passing the door to Nicole's room and we hear a gasp and then a:

"Nicole!!!"

Nicole looks up and swears:

"Fuck, Claudine! What are you doing here? You said you'd be at Benny's tonight!"

"I've just forgotten something. Gosh, I couldn't know I'd come back and find you in bed with another woman!"

"So? Does it disturb you?"

Claudine shrugs and says:

"Not really, but I thought we were open enough with each other that you could have told me. I wouldn't have tried to shove you into the arms of every man I thought suitable, you know!"

"Oh. Okay then. Would you mind closing the door?"

"No, I don't. mind. Good night!"

"Ciao."

We've cooled down quite a bit from the fright. Nicole turns around and cuddles up to me. I kiss her tenderly and she looks into my eyes.

"Shit, now we've got to build that up again... you were so nicely elsewhere."

"I'll get there again, Nicole. That felt wonderful! I want to give it back to you."

"You can. Soon. I want to see you come first!"

I smile. What lovely prospects. We hear Claudine pass the room again and leave the flat. Nicole runs her hands over my belly and caresses me tenderly. I'm thrilled. Her fingers just barely touch my flesh and I can feel each and every hair stand up and the butterflies fluttering in my stomach make me moan. She kisses me again. I sling my arms around her and hold her. Her hands continue to move downwards until she buries them in my pubic hair. I close my eyes and just feel. She wriggles out of my arms and turns around, slowly following her hands with her mouth. Then she nudges my legs apart and I can feel a warm wet tongue flicking over my clit. Wow! Now there's a feeling I'd never expected. It's bloody amazing!

"Aah! Oh, Nicole! Wow, that's great..." I pant.

She doesn't let go, patiently strokes her tongue over that bud, which gets hard and I can feel the blood pulsating in it each time she sucks it inside of her mouth and licks and nips it. Oh. My. God! This must be it! This is certainly the moment when everything tumbles down and crumbles to dust. I cry out and a low moan follows and I think I'm going to die!

It takes a moment to come back from that. Nicole has turned back and is lying next to me again. I must look pretty cross-eyed, because she grins and says:

"Sounded like you made it, Morag!"

"I think so! I've never felt this way, Nicole. That was amazing!"

"Never felt this way before? Oh, that's sad. I'm going to give you this as often as I can..."

"Thanks!"

I need a break, but then I start doing the same thing to her as she just did to me. Then I have a neat little idea and ask:

"Do you want a rougher tongue to go over this?"

She looks at me, puzzled, then she asks:

"Are you going to do magic?"

I laugh.

"Yes, this sort, watch out!"

I quickly transform. I can see her staring at me and then she says:

"This is bloody amazing! You can turn yourself into a dog? What else will I get to see with you?"

I turn back quickly to explain with a big grin:

"Yes, I can. I'm an Animagus. That's a witch or wizard who can change into an animal. I've learned it a while ago through my transfiguration teacher, who is an Animagus, too. His form is also a dog, though you'd probably be scared if you met him, he's a huge black dog. We call him Snuffles."

"That's just unbelievable! You guys are absolutely incredible..."

We spend the rest of the night playing around and finally it's time to sleep. I'm happily falling asleep next to her. Nicole holds me close and I feel like she's just been there waiting for me until I came along. 

**10.10.1998 / Ron**

I wake up early. We have still slept about ten hours through. I can't have moved much in my sleep, because I still find myself wrapped around Justin. When I stir he wakes up as well and both of us are hard, no surprise there. We don't have much time during the week, but we take it usually in the morning. I start to caress Justin and he kisses me, still a bit sleepy.

"Good morning, love," he says, yawning.

"Morning, love," I mumble while I kiss him back. 

Then I can feel those wonderful hands of his on my back, where he follows my spine and I arch my back, it's so good. It's the fastest way to get to me and he knows it well. I trail kisses from his jaw down to his nipples and start sucking on them. Mm, I can do that for half an hour, just enjoying the lovely little noises he makes. Pinch his other nipple. Use my fingers on both nipples and move down to his navel. There's where his pubic hair ends in a long thin line up his belly to the navel. I follow it, still twirling my fingers around his nipples. Justin just moans and pushes me softly down to that wonderful cock of his, which is already pointing up to his belly button. Ooh, he's hard. I take one hand off his nipples, pull the foreskin back and start to lick over the head. My other hand continues to pinch his nipple.

"Nnng, Ron! So good... don't fucking stop!"

You bet I won't stop. He tastes so good I want to eat him up! I start to suck on his cock, hard, and he gives a little cry. More sucking and his cries get a little more frantic. Then I take him into my mouth fully and now I hear constant moaning and finally a short scream, just before he comes. I'm warned and when I feel the eruption and his seed spurts into my throat I can hear him calling out my name. Fuck, it's so good to hear that. I think it would be the worst thing that could happen to me, if he ever cried out another name in the moment of his orgasm. He pulls me up and we kiss, he licks the remaining seed off my lips and duels with my tongue. The kiss doesn't end for minutes. We embrace and kiss on, just like there would be no tomorrow. I've decided that I need this. When I do have sex, I want it to be important, just like it were the last time I could feel it and make it memorable. Each time we're doing it I need this even more, because it's so good with him.

Justin turns me around and straddles me. We kiss some more and I watch him as he prepares my cock and himself. He really loves to ride me, so he can control the thrusts and I really love it when he does, so I often give him that freedom. Justin comes down on me, taking me inside and pushing down on my length until he can't push down any further. He smiles.

"Gods, I love this! I love to feel your cock inside of me, Ron! It's the greatest feeling I know! Just one thing that's as good and that's being inside of you! Aw, yes..."

He starts to move. Slowly, up, down, up again, then pushes down hard. Then he makes a few fast movements, not so deep, but now I know I'm hitting his prostate and I can see his cock hardening again. I grab it and pump it in rhythm with his movements. He gets faster and faster, but forcefully goes down all the way. I can feel my orgasm building up, oh, just a little more, Justin! Yes! Yes! That's it, that's what I love most! 

"Justin! Oh gods, Merlin, I love you! This is so good!"

I'm coming so hard. There's really nothing better to start the day than a quick shag. Justin reaches a second orgasm and collapses on my body, stretching his legs out again. I hold him tightly and kiss him again. He still smiles and says:

"So good, Ron, I love you so much..."

And after that we go right back to sleep for another while.

**Harry**

Studied late into the night. There is a lot we have to learn and we really get a lot to push into our brains to just store in some corner so it would be ready when we'd need it. Hermione is good at that, but I have to work a bit harder to accomplish it. I'm getting better at it though. It's a completely different method of studying than during school. The complex contents of what we have to learn aside, it's often tedious learning by heart. We can't just take notes and write an essay, we actually have to memorise all. Most exams will be aural exams where we have to have our knowledge present. 

So after a long evening with a lot of reading we went to bed last night with burning eyes. Hermione wakes up beside me and when she stirs I wake up as well.

"Sorry, love, I didn't want to wake you up!" she says.

"'S okay, love! I've slept long enough. What's the time?"

She turns around.

"Just after nine."

"See, that's fine. Full eight hours of sleep! We don't usually get that much!"

"You're right about that. You're working very hard, Harry. I'm so proud of you."

I kiss her. She kisses me back and starts caressing me.

"I'm looking forward to a cosy evening together tonight! Some games, some talking, a few glasses of wine and good music..."

"Much better than going out in any case. Sometimes the noise in those dancing clubs is just unbearable..."

"Absolutely."

When we get up an hour later we find some of the others still at the breakfast table. No one comes down before nine on Saturday morning. It's great to be a big family. And it's great that there are always a few of us around on the weekend.

The ones who actually are up earlier than the rest are Sirius and Remus with the twins. I have to go and look how Seraina is doing. I swear my godchild is the sweetest baby on earth! She greets me with a smile and when I tickle her lightly she giggles. I'm so looking forward to spend time with her when she gets older. 

"I can't wait to take you out flying, Seraina! I'm already thinking of which baby broom to give to you, you know!" I tell her.

Remus laughs and tells me:

"You'll have to hurry to be faster than Siri! He's been dreaming of that before she was even born!"

"Not surprising!"

"We're actually going to watch a few of the games of the Harpies. Siri's been a fan of them forever!"

"They're usually high in the league... I'll gladly join you now and then. I can't just get buried in my books, I do need to go out a bit now and then. And now that the Quidditch season is on again I've planned a few games that I want to see. I haven't ever been able to just go out and watch any of the matches, so I'll just love to do that sometimes from now on! Besides, there are a few of my school friends who turned pro, so I'd love to go and see how they fare."

Hermione grins. She's not much of a fan, but she does like to watch now and then, so I plan to drag her along. Not to every game, but now and then. Since we haven't seen Remus and Sirius for five weeks they ask us how our courses at the Academy have started.

"Great! But lots to learn! It's not easy. The really great thing is that we can now live a very normal wizarding life - apparating and going where we want to and since money is no issue we can actually do what we want. Hermione has some more features for the Commumirrors in mind and is working on them on the side. They're fast becoming THE business success in the wizarding world! There's a licensed company in the States now and one in Japan with the rights for Asia and one in Australia. My wife can just sit back and watch money coming in. The twins are happy with the business prospects, too, because now they can invest some of the money into the fun park, they're not depending solely on Draco. He also thinks having them as more equal partners is better. They have already gained a certain experience in the business world, so they are working together well."

"You're all doing so well, it seems! If there's anything I'm proud of, then it's how much you kids have learned and how well you are doing! I fancy having a part in that, however tiny," Remus says.

"I don't think your part is tiny, Remus," Hermione interjects. 

Seraina hits me with her rattle to get my attention back. I grin at her and hit her lightly back. She giggles and tries it again on me. When she laughs she shows her cute little teeth. The few she already has, that is. 

"She's got such a cute smile now, Remus!" I remark.

"Sexy, don't you think? Three teeth. Seventeen to go for the first set of teeth... they're both going through a hard time right now."

We spend the afternoon with a walk outside with the children and then we come back inside. It's really been rather cold outside and so we conjure up tea as soon as we're inside. We all sit down in the former classroom, which is now the larger living room. Sirius immediately starts a huge fire which warms the room up nicely. Then we have dinner, now on the new long table in the living room, which has been changed into the dining room as well. It's great to have this big table, we can eat at it, play games there, just be together for a nice cup of tea or coffee. Those of us who are at the house every night, or most nights anyway, really don't see any hurry to move out. There are so many advantages. First of course being Dobby. He's doing the work alone now with Winky being at Hogwarts. But he gets along fine he says. He's a bit lonely though. I think, Remus and Sirius have offered him to return to Hogwarts, so he could be with Winky again and find another house-elf to help us here. Even Hermione sees the advantage of not having to bother with housework. Then there's the company! We meet our friends almost every day, can follow their lives as they follow ours. 

Mandy isn't with us tonight. She's back in London for a date. I think she's found someone at her workplace, which would be just great! Morag has brought Nicole here for the first time. Nicole is really nice and she's all fascinated about a household full of witches and wizards. She's quite happy to see that we're playing a lot of Muggle games, too, so she can really participate. 

Dinner is the usual casual affair. Remus and Sirius are relaxed, they've worked through some tests which they graded, but that's all done now, so we have their full attention. We're really having fun tonight, Ron and Justin are in full flight! Ginny is there and she gives Nicole something to gape at when she shows her the golden eagle and flies around for a bit.

"I don't believe my eyes!" Nicole cries out.

"Well, she's real, isn't she? Or have you ever seen such a well behaved golden eagle?" Ron asks, amused.

"No, I haven't. This is absolutely amazing. Oh, by the way, if you guys ever need a vet, I'm going to be done with my study in a few years, so I'm offering my services," she says with a grin.

"Poppy Pomfrey, our school nurse, has threatened Sirius about ten times with sending him to the vet if he doesn't take the cold medicine she gives him or so..." Remus says and grins, too.

Sirius very maturely shows him his tongue.

"Is that an offer, love?" Remus asks with a sweet voice.

We all laugh. Sirius kisses his mate and then casually remarks:

"Remember that for later on, love!"

"Would love to - if the twins let us..."

Right now, both of them are nicely asleep. They usually go after their last evening bottle at eight or so and then sleep through until the early morning. If the teething lets them, that is.

**Sirius**

What a wonderful evening! Most of the gang is there, Draco is still in France, Parvati has a weekend watch at St. Mungo's, but Blaise and Padma are both here, Morag has presented us with her brand new girlfriend Nicole, who's a Muggle, much to our amusement, Neville is here, Ron, Justin, Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Ernie are here, too.

So there are a dozen conversations going at the same time. The refurnished classroom is now a large, beautiful living and dining room. It's been a good idea to do this. We have to move on after all and since this room isn't needed for a classroom anymore, it's a great living room for the big family we now are. Chosen family. We're all closer related than I ever was to my own blood. Who cares for that anyway? What counts is the love and respect we have for each other. It's been rather easy to let the kids grow up and it's much more fun to treat them as adults and equals anyway. They all make me smile and sometimes I'm still getting all teary when I think of how much I love them all! 

I hear the baby alarm and go up to see what the little ones have. Only Denny is awake. I quickly lift him up and sooth him, then I give him some more of the gel from Poppy. His gums are all hot again. Another tooth. The two of you really go through a hard time there. 

But once he has fallen asleep again on my arms I can lay him back down in his crib and he doesn't wake up again. We're getting quite used to all of this lately and we're taking it as easy as we can. 

I dim the light to the minimum required and leave the nursery. I think of using the remaining space between our room and behind the stairs for another room for one of the children, so they will have one of their own. It wouldn't be hard to add a wall just behind the stairs, replacing the railing. There are three metres from there to the outer wall of the house and it's also about three metres wide. Good enough for a small room for the weekends and summers we spend here. Ginny and Ernie use mostly Ernie's room at the back of the house, so once the twins are older, one of them can move into Ginny's old room upstairs.

I return to the family. Remus has taken about three of my turns in the game we're playing. I don't mind, after all they shouldn't have to wait for me all that time. But of course I'm losing spectacularly! Darn it, lover! 

**James**

It's so much fun to watch them! We've met all the members of the household by now and they're all very nice. Even the Malfoy kid seems very nice to me. Wouldn't have thought it possible, but after all he is Sirius' second cousin and that does make it surreal, but possible. And he's with Vaidyanathan's daughter! Wow. Not the most likely combination, but it seems that Parvati is up to it and handles him quite well...

I still have a pretty hard time adjusting to that much peace. It seems that the only peaceful time I've known in my life was before I went to Hogwarts and during my first four years there. From then on it's been nothing but war with Voldemort. It's so good to see that these young people will have peace and good times ahead. Hermione and Harry have started university! That's very exciting for me to watch, because since my great-grandfather no one has been there in our family!

**Remus**

When we're finally going to bed that evening, it's fairly late. It's good that we've prepared that weekend well by having all of our grading done. I have to prepare a lesson for the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff fourth years for Monday, that's all. So we can take tomorrow easy, too. Sirius gets undressed and drops into bed. He's still adjusting to the increased amount of work, and it will probably tire him a lot for a while still. I kiss him good night and we postpone love making for tomorrow morning. Godparents are a great thing, they've promised to take the little ones from their first feeding until we get up. 

**11.10.1998 / Sirius**

I've been out of it the moment I felt the pillow beneath me! It's all pretty much right now and I'm so happy to know that we'll have a long night all to ourselves once morning comes and the twins call for their first feeding. Hermione and Ron said they'd set their alarm clocks to early morning to take over the babies. We have to get up only once during the night. And Seraina goes to sleep again quite nicely, so we can stumble back to bed until the morning feeding. Ron and Justin come traipsing into the nursery and pick up the babies, then silently go out of the room to feed them. I go back to sleep immediately and only wake up at ten, finding Remus awake and reading next to me. He turns his beautiful face to me and smiles. 

"Hey, sleepyhead!" he calls softly and puts his book on the pile of other books on his nightstand.

"Morning, love," I reply, yawning.

"Slept well?"

"Nice and long!"

I pull him close for a kiss and he closes his eyes, responds in kind and then says:

"We're off this morning, I've been down for a spot of breakfast and brought some for you..."

I sniff and look around. There's a tray with a glass of orange juice, a small pot of coffee and two croissants on my own nightstand, the coffee charmed to stay hot. I yawn again and then sigh happily. A free Sunday morning with my lover! It must have been months! I kiss him again, then I sit up to enjoy a cup of coffee and my croissants. Yum! Fresh ones. Someone must have been at the bakery down in Lützelflüh. 

"Morag. It seems they've started this a while ago," Remus explains. 

"Ah! Well, Dobby's a great cook, but he can't make proper bread..."

"Which is why they go down to Lützelflüh."

He lets me eat my croissants and drink my juice and then the coffee, before he urges me to put the tray away. I've barely done that when he assaults me, pinning me to the mattress and kissing me. Mmm, haven't had my sexy werewolf this way for a long time now! Remus can be very dominant sometimes, but I love it. He won't allow me to do anything then, just takes and gives at the same time. 

He caresses me with his tongue from top to bottom. I can feel his cock getting hard fast. I feel mine harden and sigh. Gods, this is good. So far I don't need any fancier stuff than that! It still serves its purpose with me very well, even after we've been back together for three years. We've grown so close! 

My thighs... he's moving from my knees along the inner sides of my thighs and right to where it feels best. Orders me to turn on my belly, then lift myself up on knees and elbows. I comply and close my eyes as I feel his tongue coming up from my inner thighs to the cleft of my arse. Yes, Remus, please! I don't need to do more than moan softly for him to know that I really want this. His tongue follows the cleft from my balls up to the opening, which he circles. I keep my eyes closed to feel even better. Remus' tongue presses at the opening and gently pushes inside. He can't reach very far, but I can feel the warmth of his flesh and it's perfect. He fondles my balls, but stays away from my cock. I won't be able to take this for a long time, the teasing's so good! But he stops, slicks his fingers in his mouth and pushes the first one inside. He nudges the entrance wider, relaxes my muscles with his finger, then pulls it back and quickly adds a second one. He starts to finger fuck me, reaching for the spot where my prostate is hidden behind the rectal wall. I moan louder. It's just so unbelievably good. Remus takes his time and inserts a third finger, steadily thrusting inside and making me wide open. I try to reach for my cock, but he sees it and swats my hand away with his free hand.

"Nope, Siri, you're going to wait there..." he whispers.

But that's so hard! Though I know it will be worth waiting! I feel his hand on my back, on my buttocks, down my thighs, back up and over the balls, teasing my cock just a little, all the while he continues to fuck me with his fingers. I keep my eyes closed. Not seeing is more intensive feeling. I'm concentrating fully on his hands, his body and all of a sudden he pulls his hand back and then slowly enters me. Aw, love, yes! Push down deep, please! He does. He starts to thrust, I meet every one of his thrusts with a backward move. As he gets worked up he gets faster and the thrusts are harder.

"Yes, love, please, do it harder," I moan.

Faster, harder. He glides easily after that long preparation time. He kneels behind me, both hands on my hips and he pulls me close when he thrusts inside. Oh Merlin, I never want it to stop! And finally, finally he moves one of his hands around my hipbone to grasp my cock, starts pumping it and only a minute or so later we both climax. He can't hold it any longer and with a loud groan he lets go and pushes me over the edge only moments later. I flop down on the bed and he collapses on me, but rolls off and lies next to me. I can feel him nuzzling my neck, tenderly biting the nape, then licking the crook of my neck, which is salty from my sweat. He transforms and gives me a bath with his tongue. That makes me laugh softly and I turn around to face him. He licks my face and I pull him close to kiss his snout. Then he transforms back and we kiss again, passionately, for the next half hour. I hold him tightly.

"Thanks, love! I needed that! But I think I'd like a shower now."

"Me, too! Then we've got to prepare to return to Hogwarts."

"I want to come back here again soon!" I whisper.

"It's going to be our love nest, isn't it?"

"Yes. Next time I'm coming I'm making that other room next to our bedroom for Denny."

"Should be big enough for the first few years."

"That's what I thought - and they have their own place."

We pull up the duvet for a while to get nice and warm and then decide to get up. We go down to take a shower and get dressed. When we come out of the bathroom fully dressed it's already lunch time. It seems that the gang has taken care of the little ones well, as we find them in the living room, contentedly lying on the thick carpet and a baby blanket.

We are greeted by understanding smiles and grins from all who were around. 

"Thanks for letting us have a night of undisturbed rest, guys!" I say.

"That's okay, we figured you needed one. You looked like you haven't slept in ages," Hermione replies, but grins.

"Well, we also needed the sex in the morning, to be honest! Must have been one of about three times since the twins were born," Remus remarks with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Though we expect things to look up soon. They start to sleep through the teething now. With Poppy's wonderful gel, that frees them from the pain!" I add.


	5. Quidditch, classes and Draco mulls things aroun

**13.10.1998 / Hermione**

We don't have to hurry this morning, our first lecture is at 10 am. We've both studied late last night and sleep our fill, but we leave time for a little lovemaking before we get up. Shower, getting dressed, grabbing our briefcases and rushing down to breakfast, where we arrive at a quarter past nine. We love Tuesdays, as we only have one lecture in the morning. Dobby has our breakfast ready. We don't even need to hurry for it. A good half hour later we're picking up our briefcases and apparate directly to the Academy. After six weeks the building is fairly well known terrain. Harry is a bit lazy and enchants a self filling quill to record the lecture. Couldn't get more complete notes, though, and though I think it's a lazy way of taking notes I have to say that both of us profit from checking those parchments. And I have to say one thing for Harry, he's started off filing the note parchments very orderly in folders, so we can find everything easily. Of course, Harry isn't by far the only one clever enough to use this method either. 

After the two hour lecture we decide to have a quick bite around the corner in a Thai restaurant. Sometimes I'm quite glad that money is not an issue for either of us. He's never used much of his money, so his vault is still amazingly well endowed and we now know that there is another Potter vault, which lets the one he uses regularly look poor. So we happily spoil ourselves to first class food and sometimes invite colleagues who are less well off.

We spend a part of the afternoon in the library of the Academy to go through some historical texts. Here we both take extensive notes, but again we use an enchanted quill. Since most of the students work this way there's a rule to cast silencing charms. This 'rule' allows us to talk in the library as we please. I found that dictating our notes to the enchanted quill helps memorising much of what we have to learn. Harry keeps glancing at his watch, because at four we'll apparate to the Appleby Quidditch stadium to watch a match between the Appleby Arrows and the Holyhead Harpies. We meet Sirius who has only two lessons on Tuesday afternoon. It's the first time he and Harry get to watch an official Quidditch match together and they're both very excited. And to my surprise James is there, too. He grins happily and regrets not being able to drink some hot butterbeer like the rest of us.

"One of your former team mates plays for the Harpies, isn't it?" Sirius asks Harry.

"Yes, Angelina Johnson. She's a chaser. And a bloody good chaser, too! And Alicia Spinnet, she's a reserve Chaser. The Arrows aren't bad either, though."

While Harry and Sirius start to discuss the Quidditch league's standings I shiver from the cold. I'm pulling my cloak close and then decide to start casting warming charms. I give Harry one, too, because he'll probably forget to do it himself. He notices, turns to me and kisses me. 

"Thanks, love! If we ignore you too badly, holler, please!"

I smile.

"I will! You two enjoy being together at a match! I know how you were both looking forward to this for a while."

"We were. But that's no reason to leave you completely forgotten. Thanks for coming along!" he says.

"Well, I do like to watch the games. It will be great seeing Angelina play!"

"You'll have to point her out for me. I've been rooting for the Harpies ever since I knew about Quidditch. It's like a habit," Sirius says and grins. 

It's great to be here in a stadium with at least several thousand people who watch the match with us. I've got my Omnioculars with me and look around. We have rather good seats, high up in the stadium and in the middle. There is a large board for announcements. The stadium looks a lot like the one that had been built for the world cup four years ago, but it is a lot smaller of course. And naturally this one is a permanent stadium. There's a series of news headlines on the board, some about Quidditch, players in the league, team news, results and there are other news about a wide array of subjects. The news are interrupted by commercials. There's a commentator who announces the beginning of the match in fifteen minutes. 

Five minutes before the start the referee comes flying to the centre of the stadium. The commentator then announces the players of the two teams, the guests first:

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Holyhead Harpies! They are well under way to a very good season, the first team being fit and playing tonight. Captain and Keeper is Madeline Coltrane. The Chasers are Angelina Johnson, Christine McAllister and Dana O'Leary. The Beaters are Hannah O'Leary and Maureen Appleton and the Seeker is Aggie Morgan!"

In the order of the speaker's introduction, the Harpies players come flying into the stadium. We all cheer loudest for Angelina of course. Then the home team is introduced. The fans in the crowd shout the names along with the stadium speaker:

"And now for our own Appleby Arrows, here come Captain and Chaser Jeff Maloney, Keeper Ryan O'Hara, Chasers Megan Carrington and Kevin Lester, Beaters Sean King and Sean Quinn, aaaaand last but definitely not least, Seeker Kelly Cooper. Let's hear it for our ARROWS!"

There's a lot of noise around the stadium, but that certainly doesn't intimidate the Harpies. All the players are ready, Coltrane and Maloney shake hands and once the Keepers are in position in front of their goal rings the referee checks that the Chasers are waiting and ready. A whistle and the balls are released from an assistant referee. The Snitch vanishes immediately. Lester has got hold of the Quaffle first and he takes off for the Harpies goal, but their beaters are already sending the first Bludgers in the way and Dana O'Leary intercepts the Quaffle and passes on to Angelina. 

It's magnificent to watch them fly. I think they don't look any less competent than the Irish and Bulgarian players we saw at the world cup. In fact, at least three of the players here are Irish. It's interesting to listen to James, Sirius and Harry. A Chaser, a Beater and a Seeker, they all look at the game a bit differently. Harry squints for the Snitch most of the time, James follows the Chasers, as does Sirius, but Sirius also observes the Beaters. 

"The speed is amazing! They've made immense progress in broom construction it seems..." James remarks.

"They have. Five years ago I got a state of the art racing broom for Harry, and that's already almost slow, isn't it, Harry?"

"Won't give it away for a fortune though. After all it was the first gift I got from you," Harry says with a grin. "And it's still as good as new!"

The first goal is scored by Angelina! We cheer of course and I watch it again on the Omniocular. 

**Sirius**

That's how it should have always been: James and Harry and I together at a Quidditch match. That's what James and I had wanted in life: Having a good time at any match with Harry and talk of Quidditch for days on end. Instead we've had years and years of misery. I'd like to kill Voldemort a few dozen times over for that alone. 

It's the first time in almost twenty years I'm watching my favourite team play. The girls have opened the score with two goals, one by Harry's former team mate. She looks like one fine Chaser and James commends her on her goal.

"That girl is great! She's going to go far in the league, I'm quite sure..."

"Angelina is one hell of a fine friend, too, Dad! She's living with Fred Weasley. I think they're going to get married," Harry says.

"Oh, is she the one you played with?"

"Yes. For three years. There wasn't any Quidditch cup when they held the Triwizard Tournament. And after that I was in Switzerland."

"What about you, Hermione? Do you fly?" James asks.

"Yes, now I do. I was dead scared in the beginning, because I never liked to go up high..."

I follow the three Chasers of the Harpies, who swiftly score a few goals, only getting about three in return. Normally they are the stronger team than the Arrows and it's visible. Coltrane is a first class Keeper. Even the two Beaters of the Harpies are better than their male opponents. They have wonderful moves, which they execute precisely and fast. The Bludgers are difficult to spot. Then there's the Seekers. Both ladies. Aggie Morgan is 32, very experienced and very fast. She's awesome to watch and Harry says she's really doing great. The game goes on for two hours, then there's a bit of action between the Seekers, as Aggie has spotted the Snitch, but she's being obstructed by the opposite Beaters, so that she can't get to it and it vanishes again. At half past six and at 110:60 for the Harpies Remus turns up. He hasn't been able to leave before his classes have been out, so he's coming in a bit late. Glad that it's not over yet. 

"Hey everyone!" he says.

"Hi Remus!" Hermione, Harry and James reply.

I pull him close and kiss him. He looks over the pitch and sees the board.

"Anyone seen the Snitch yet?" he asks.

"Once, just a few minutes ago, but the Arrows' Beaters have been able to keep Aggie away from it."

At that moment, Cooper goes into a dive and when we look around we notice she's trying to lure Aggie away from the Snitch. But Aggie's looking at the right spot and goes for the Snitch, which Harry points out for us at the far end of the stadium and fairly high up, so that Cooper now has to get there faster than Aggie Morgan with a longer way to get there, which seems almost impossible. It's a tight race though and both of the ladies really have to get out of their brooms what they can. Aggie's routine wins out and she catches the Snitch. A wave of disappointment goes through the Arrows' fans, but there's a lot of cheering for the Harpies, too. 

"That puts them ahead of Puddlemere!" Harry cries.

"Oliver won't like that! He's got a bet with the Weasley twins that Puddlemere will win the championship this year," Hermione says.

"Really? He must be crazy! Puddlemere is doing very well after the first eight games, but they have already lost against the other candidate for the top position, the Ballycastle Bats. If they lose against the Harpies at least once out of three games they will have a hard time," I remark.

"Well, once you get to know Oliver you'll find out that he IS crazy! He lives, eats, drinks and breathes Quidditch. He's the most obsessed Quidditch player you find anywhere, believe me. It was to a large part thanks to him that we won the Cup in my third year," Harry tells us.

"Any other of your school mates who's gone pro?" James asks.

"Yes, about seven of them. Cho Chang, she was one year ahead of me in Ravenclaw, plays Seeker. She's first reserve for the Montrose Magpies. Then there's Roger Davies, another Ravenclaw, he's a reserve Chaser for the Ballycastle Bats. Quite a good Chaser, too, but won't ever beat Angelina. Alicia Spinnet, another of our Chasers and classmate of Angelina, George and Fred Weasley's is first reserve Chaser for the Harpies. She's probably going to replace Christine McAllister in some of the games in the League, as McAllister is not the youngest anymore and starts thinking of her retirement from active Quidditch," Harry tells James. 

We get up from our seats and start leaving the stadium for one of the Apparition points. When we get there I hug Hermione and Harry and wish them a nice evening. Remus, James and I apparate back to Hogsmeade. We hurry back to the castle, where we arrive just in time to put the twins to bed. I've already missed them terribly. I have hardly seen them the whole day! I sigh as I watch Denny fall asleep. Almost half a year old now!

**Remus**

Once the children are sleeping, Sirius and I sit in the living room. I snuggle closer and he tells me how much he's enjoyed this afternoon and the match. I'm so glad he starts to live a normal life again. Duties here at Hogwarts won't leave us much time, but what little time we get off we take and enjoy fully. Of course we want to be there for the twins in our free time, so for the next few years that means parenting for the most part. But it seems to me so far that this is so rewarding it will be worth the little sacrifice. 

"You didn't get to see very much, love, I'm so sorry!" Sirius says at that moment.

"Oh, never mind. The next game we can go and see will be on a weekend, so we can both go... I have to admit that I missed it. I couldn't ever go and see any matches after you were gone. It simply didn't feel right. Besides not having the spare money..."

"Never will you have to deprive yourself of anything you need and rarely of something you want now, love!" he whispers. And then, louder: "Hey, I can't wait for the day when I can take the twins to come and watch matches..."

I smile. We kiss for a long time. I still have a test to grade, but I happily postpone that for later and surrender to his ministrations. We're in for another romp tonight. A quick run over the grounds and we both feel refreshed and nicely exhausted, just perfect for a quick shower and bed. I'll get up a bit earlier for the test, I decide. How I love to be able to change to four paws whenever I want now! The wolf runs and runs easily, no care, no fears. It lopes easily up to fifteen miles in an hour and that gives us a large circle around the school's grounds. Padfoot can hold up with about eleven to twelve miles, so for me this is like a walk. The cool, crisp night air is doing wonders. We take that shower and are off to bed.

**Friday, 18.10.1998 / Remus**

After lunch I have the sixth years Gryffindors and Slytherins. It's the start of the Patronus lessons I'm giving the sixth years. This is a difficult spell and I'm sure, that not all will be mastering it. But this first lesson is just theory. I lecture them about the purpose and the background of that spell. At the end of the lesson I ask a few simple questions.

"So who can tell me what you can fend off with a Patronus?"

Several hands are up, I pick a Slytherin girl, who gives me the right answer.

"Take two points for Slytherin, Nora. And what form does the Patronus take?"

This time I give a Gryffindor the right to speak. 

"It depends on the caster."

"How?" I ask.

"I think it's a representation of some inner strength or maybe someone close?"

"Most often that's the case, correct. Two points to Gryffindor. Now you research the spell, the history, how it's cast and then you start to think about possible memories that would help you create a Patronus until we meet again next Wednesday, okay? One roll of parchment."

I dismiss the class. The last class today are the fourth years and with them comes a Ministry supervisor, this time it's Bill Weasley, as we have yet another round of casting Imperius and teaching them to overthrow it. So far out of the 17 students six have been able to cast the curse off, five of them Gryffindors. I wonder why the Slytherins have such huge problems. It's well possible that Sixtus was not the only one who had been the victim of this curse before. But others must have been able to hide it better. 

At first, I pick those who have not yet been cursed at all. Only five are left and those get in line. I note them all down. Four of them are Gryffindors. Two girls show signs of trying to throw it off. Then I try again with those who were unable to overthrow it. Then the ones who showed signs to fight it. There isn't enough time for all of them in this lesson, but I ask all of them to write down their experiences.

"I know it's Friday, but I would strongly suggest, that you all go back to your common rooms or dormitories, pick up quill and parchment and note down how you felt this afternoon. Or the first time I put you under the curse. But concentrate on this afternoon while it's fresh in your memories. It doesn't have to be much. Hand it in to me next week and I'll read it. That's not something I'll grade obviously, but I intend to give you the notes back after the Easter holidays next year. That's when I would like to repeat the lessons one more time, after you read your short essays again. Okay?"

"Yes, Professor Lupin," they all reply and I dismiss them, wishing them a nice weekend.

I myself hurry up to our office, where I'm joined by Sirius moments later, then we go down to our rooms to pick up the twins. We both pack a baby in a sling, attach our cloaks and wrap scarves around our necks, take our briefcases and our brooms, then we head out of the castle. We mount, kick off and slowly ride our brooms down to the gates, where we land, dismount and apparate to the Sunnegg. The bell rings as usual and we see Lily coming around the corner from the kitchen to see who's come home. 

"Hey there!" she greets us happily. 

Lily feels more comfortable at the Sunnegg than at Hogwarts, so she's mostly here, while James likes to 'commute' between our two homes. I have the feeling that both just adore having part in the family life and like to share it wherever and whenever. 

"How's your week been?" Lily asks.

"Very nice! I'm knackered again though," Sirius replies, while he puts his broom in the broom cupboard.

I hand him mine and start to take off my scarf while I put my briefcase on one of the sofas. Then I start to unfasten the clasps on my thick cloak. Seraina sticks her tiny nose out of the sling. She pulls her mouth into a little grin. I drape my cloak over the back of a chair at the long table. Then I loosen the sling and free the little one. She seems genuinely happy about that as she starts to gurgle and baby chat. I lift her up and hold her there, so she can look down at me. She responds with a mighty squeal. I smile up at her.

"You love that, don't you, sweetheart?"

Another gurgle, then I quickly take her down again before she starts to drool. I hold her on my arm. She sits on it and leans against my shoulder. Lily beams at her and asks:

"Hello, Seraina! Do you want to come to Auntie Lily?"

Seraina smiles, stretches out her arms and Lily picks the baby up. She's lost her fear of dropping the children. She can actually hold any normal weight on her arms just fine. 

"I just wish I wasn't a ghost, sometimes, so you wouldn't have to freeze on my arms, love," she tells Seraina, who doesn't seem to care yet.

But that of course is a problem, because after five minutes or so the babies get cold and start to cry. 

"Not a very cuddly auntie am I, right?" she asks the baby. 

It actually makes me very sad to see this. Okay, she's here and we can have all the fun together we want, but she's lost so much. It hurts to know that she's never seen her son grow up. And that she's never had the chance to give him a few siblings. 

But I have to say that she has found a friend in Seraina. The baby looks at her with a friendly grin and listens to her baby talk, forming sounds and soft words that probably only mothers have. 

"Can I leave her with you? I'd like to go and change..." I ask.

"Sure! Leave Denny here as well, Siri."

"Thanks!"

**Lily**

What fun it is to baby-sit those two little ones! I'm still in awe that they're Remus' and Sirius' children. It seems so right that these two, who have been Harry's top favourite babysitters, now have children of their own. I'm looking at them and while I'm just musing about how nice it will be to see them grow up I hear the apparition bell tinkle. In the next moment, Harry apparates in. He smiles broadly as he comes over and greets first me and then the babies. They are getting a bit cranky now, I suppose they're hungry. Harry drops everything and lifts the crankier one, Denny, up to sooth him. 

"You know you do that very well, Harry!" I commend him.

"Thanks, Mum. I really love those two little blighters, and I hate to see them cranky. Is it time for food, Denny?" he asks the tiny boy and pecks him on the round little cheek, blowing a soft raspberry.

He gets a giggling reply, because he also tickles the little one who starts to squirm on his arm. But he holds on tightly.

"Hey, Denny! You are really starting to look like your Daddy, you know! Same black hair and it looks like your eyes are going to stay that lovely grey-blue!"

I think, he could have told Denny what he studied today and still got a smile from the baby. The bell tinkles again and Hermione comes in. Only a few minutes later Ron and Justin come home.

"Hey everybody!" Ron calls happily. 

"Hi, you two! Hello, Lily! Shall I take Seraina? Should be time for their bottle, shouldn't it?" Hermione asks.

"Yes, but I don't like to give it to them, I'm just too cold for them."

"We'll take over then."

Hermione puts her things on a chair and picks up Seraina, then she summons the bottles from the kitchen. Harry and Hermione warm the bottles and sit down to offer them to the twins. While they're still feeding them, Remus and Sirius come back down.

"Hi all! Thanks for taking over!" Sirius says brightly.

They both wear sweatpants, t-shirts and jumpers and sit down on one of the sofas, watching Harry and Hermione holding the bottles for their twins. Both look a bit tired, but I have the impression, that Sirius is a bit more worn down than Remus. 

"You look tired..." I remark.

"Well spotted, Lily," Sirius says and sounds a bit weary.

"It's a bit harder when there's two of them," Remus explains and looks fondly at his twins, "There's always something. We've had to resolve the sleeping problems with charms. They get something to sooth their aching gums from Poppy and we give them a very mild sleep charm. Teaching can be rather tiring, too."

"Let's just say that teaching here was like paradise! Now it's more like really everyday life. Mind you, I really like it, but it's wearing me down much more than anything I did before," Sirius agrees with a smile that looks a bit wistful.

"But you like it, don't you?" I ask.

"Yes, I do like it! Actually I think I have a knack for it, wouldn't have believed it myself. The students are mostly okay. They're really working hard in my classes, and I have a hard time understanding, why Severus just put them down right from the beginning. Before he even tried to see their potential."

"Dumbledore claimed he did it to get them timid enough to take care with the ingredients and the brewing," says Hermione.

"Oh yes, and that resulted in what? You saw what it did to Neville, Hermione! I can't say anything yet, but the first and second years work as carefully as the older ones and neither Arabella nor I have intimidated them into taking care. I'm giving them the rules in the class and they have them set up in front of their eyes again and again. And I get the impression they mind them and see the necessity. At least they do their best."

"Did you have any exploding cauldrons yet? Or melted ones?" Harry asks.

Sirius laughs.

"Of course! You remember what I said, don't you? Accidents can happen to anyone. And it's not a reason to blow up like a rocket. But that was what Snivellus was like anyway..."

"Sirius! He wasn't that bad! If you and James wouldn't have..." I start.

"Oh, you always missed something, Lily, he was the kind of friend I was supposed to have, according to my oh so pure-blooded mother. I knew him ever since we were still in the cradle. He's been to that wretched house countless times before we even went to grade school together. Thank you, but no thanks!"

Now there's a surprise. He's never told me that! I thought the enmity had started the first day of school at Hogwarts. James is right there to agree with Padfoot. 

"Padfoot is right, love, he's always been like that. Mind you, he's been brought up this way. Remember Regulus? Same snotty, evil kind. They thought it was how you're supposed to be if you want to display purest blood. No one ever told them about what REAL noblesse is!"

"What's worse is the way they were taught to think that way. All of us didn't have a specifically happy home life, not even beloved Regulus. I just got it worse than the others, because I had the audacity to be sorted into Gryffindor and associate myself with all the riff-raff... It's all still there sitting in my mind often, because Azkaban has burned these memories into my brain forever. I'm just glad if I can shove them out of my mind most of the time," Sirius says.

"Siri! You never said anything about that..."

"No. Too embarrassing," Siri mumbles.

"But I've seen how he looked under his clothes when he returned from the vacations at 'home', Lily. He asked us not to say anything to anyone though."

"And you only saw what mother couldn't heal. She got most of it covered up..."

Oh my! Goddess, it must have been torture! I know that he left his home because of his differences with his family, but I never knew that abuse was also an issue. He smiles.

"Never will I raise my hand or worse, my wand against my children, Lily! The thought alone gives me the creeps! I wonder what my parents did feel when I was born. Probably just that the heir they wanted was there, then they left me to the servants."

"That is a very brave choice, Siri. They will surely try your patience and what will you do then?"

"I don't know yet. Maybe use a sleep charm. But one thing is sure: I'll never cause them physical pain. I'll never put them down verbally. That's my vow anyway."

"We'll do it, Siri," Remus quietly says.

The children have finished their bottles and are awake and curious now. Ron and Justin get their moments to cuddle with them, too. 

**Remus**

I send Sirius off to bed early. At half past eight I take the children to bed and he's already fast asleep. Ron and Justin are busy clearing Ron's room and Ron tells me:

"We've moved over into Justin's room, Remus, now you have two rooms for the twins! They need to be close to you, we don't!"

"Ron, that's very kind of you two! Thank you so much!"

I follow Siri to bed at half past nine. It's only taking me a minute to cuddle up to Sirius and fall asleep.

**Saturday, 19.10.1998 / Remus**

I feel Siri kissing me and that's what has woken me up. Looking up I notice that it's light outside and I bounce up. Siri pulls me down with a chuckle and says:

"Good morning, love. Our little helpers have picked up the children..."

"I can't believe I didn't hear them, Siri!"

"You needed your sleep, sweetheart. You've been quite exhausted, too, you know!"

I sigh and relax into his arms. Then I close my eyes, until I can feel him kissing me again, this time on the mouth. He pulls me on my back and crawls on top of me. He tries in vain to keep his long hair on his back, but finally surrenders and just lets it hang over his shoulders. I'm lifting my hand and rake through that black mass that I love so much. I think there's no one else who has hair with a texture like Siri's. It's silky, but looks like it's very thick. Then it feels very fine to the touch. Actually he has both, thick and thin hairs. They frame a face with grey-blue eyes that gaze into my eyes now. I'll never get enough seeing his face. There's his eyes! Those amazing eyes, that are the same when he's Padfoot, too. Just beautiful! They're expressive and he can conceal his feelings, but only if he wants to. As long as he's unawares he shows every emotion in them. 

Right now he gazes down on me, pinning my hands on the pillow above my head. He slowly closes the space between us and catches my lips with his. It's one of those slow, lingering, endless and wonderfully satisfying kisses, one of the ones that make me get hard in seconds flat!

He lets go and grins.

"I can't say I'm disappointed to feel how you react to such an assault, love."

"Not much of a reason to, now, do you? It's what you want just as well, I'd say."

"You know me too well, Moony! I'm still in awe that I can bring forth such a reaction with only one kiss..."

"Don't get cocky!" I tease.

"Love you, too..." he mumbles.

I've learned you again these past three years. While you continue your 'assault' I'm losing myself in thoughts and the feelings you stir. Gosh, three years? Really already three years we've been together again? I think it's almost impossible. But it's indeed three years since our flight from the UK and they've been three almost perfect years. Oooh, that's nice. Your teeth bring my nipples to life. Gods, this is good. You push your nose into my armpits and sniff, then you move southward, now releasing my hands, because you can't reach up anymore. Yes, Siri, that's where I want your tongue, latch on already!

He does. And I moan. He gets my arousal so hard he can hold up my cock with just the slightest push of a finger. And then all rational thought surrenders to that most wonderful of all feelings, a wet hot mouth sucking my cock. All I can do is mumble, but then I give him a few pointers to turn around and let me have his cock, too, and we finally land on our sides, each busy with the other's hard-on. Siri licks and sucks on mine with abandon and it doesn't take him too long to make me come. I suck him off, mirroring most of his moves, because I can't do much thinking for myself. And there it is, building up deep inside of me, but rushing all to the tip of my cock, that tension I crave, which comes much too soon, but I can't hold it up any longer. I cry out as I feel the release, my orgasm forcing me to let go of Siri's cock because if I hold on then I'll bite him. Badly. 

Paddy pulls back and turns around, kissing me again. I can taste and smell myself on his tongue, while he kisses me he caresses my whole body, moving down to my thighs. He lifts my legs and goes for my opening, slowly entering me with a finger and then two. The lust I'm feeling has already made me quite wet. He relaxes my muscles a bit and finally moves from my side to my front, pushing my legs up further, so that I can fold them over his shoulders. 

"I can't wait now, love, come on inside!" I call.

"I'm there, my love, just right there..." he manages, while he pushes his length inside. 

It's what I love so much. Now fuck me, hard and fast, please! He does, just starting slowly until he feels the rhythm building up. Oh, he pleases me! His breathing is laboured, he pants, and with great difficulty he keeps his eyes open to gaze into mine. My own are on half mast. It's too good to keep them open.

He's drawing it out as long as he can. I don't want it to stop! He thrusts with a steady, not too slow, not too fast rhythm and I meet him every time. 

"Yes, love, just go on, don't stop!" I hiss.

He shakes his head quickly and then comes down to kiss me. I hold onto him and we both breathe heavily, while we kiss. It gives him a bit of time to recover, to hold out longer. When he finally sends me over the edge by pumping my newly hardened cock, I clench my muscles hard. He thrusts once more, twice, then I can feel him arching his back and in the next moment he finds his release and cries out my name. I close my eyes. Pure bliss! I don't think I ever want to see the day when he doesn't have my name on his lips as he reaches his orgasm. He collapses down on me, but I manage to untangle my legs and then I wrap my arms around him. He moves a bit lower on me and places his face in the crook of my neck. I caress the top of his head with my chin, while I hold him tightly. 

"Mmm..." he sighs.

"Mmm indeed," I reply with a chuckle. 

"Liked that?"

"Mhm."

"Good. I did, too..."

This is so wonderfully childlike it makes me smile. He can be so direct and sometimes he expresses his feelings so clearly and simply. I realise that there are no complicated words needed to say as much. 

"I loved it, Paddy. You know I did. Because this is what I love most from you..." I mumble.

We're on the verge of sleep again and allow ourselves another hour of that before we get up.

**James**

Our two friends seem to need a lot of sleep. We watch the twins for them and let them sleep. Hermione and Ginny have taken over to look after the children for the most part. They don't seem to be overly stressed yet. Hermione looks happy. She has a lot to study already, but Harry tells me she's doing what she loves doing most: digging herself into the books. He and Ron have told me that the usual reply Hermione has for a problem is, let's go to the library! She's a very smart young witch and her demeanour actually reminds me a lot of Lily. And Remus. How lucky Harry was to have had her as best friend for the whole of his school years. I wished that I could have said the same about Lily, but unfortunately we wasted about three years. And a further few we could have been friends. 

It's funny that Lily and I now spend a lot of time apart, I'm travelling between Hogwarts and the Sunnegg a lot, but she stays mostly here in this cosy farmhouse. 

While we're sitting at the breakfast table, there's a knock on the door and then an elderly woman enters. The kids all jump up to greet her delightedly. We're introduced.

"Barb!" Harry cries and gets up to offer her a chair. 

The others greet her just as enthusiastically. She greets them all with a smile and says:

"I thought I'm coming to see how you lot are doing!"

"Just great! We miss it a bit that we're not a class together anymore, but otherwise just fine."

In that moment Barb sees Lily and me. We haven't met her yet, but the kids seem to know her very well. She stares at us in shock.

"Oh, Barb, you haven't been here for a few months, we've had a nice addition to the family in the meantime. Do you remember when we told you the story of my parents?"

"Yes..." she says.

"And do you remember seeing the ghosts at Hogwarts? Well, it turned out that my parents decided to become ghosts when they died. This is my Dad, James and my Mum, Lily Potter. Mum, Dad, this is Barb Leuenberger, she and her husband owned this house before we came here and were still our neighbours for a while. They've been our surrogate grandparents, if you so want and we learned a lot of Muggle stuff from them."

"Oh, of course, I've forgotten about the ghosts! Though now I remember having talked to one of them, he called himself a very funny name and had his head only almost cut off..."

"Nearly Headless Nick!" everyone around the table cries and they laugh.

"That wasn't it..."

"Oh no, he certainly presented himself as Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. That's his real name of course, but Nearly Headless Nick is what everyone else calls him. Just Nick, really, because he hates to be reminded of his botched beheading. We're very pleased to meet you. Remus and Sirius have spoken about you with a lot of sympathy," Lily says.

"They're a very nice couple. It did take me a while to accept that fact though. Not that I told them, but it was a bit strange for me to have homosexual tenants. But they're both so very nice and we hit off quite easily. Are they at Hogwarts this weekend?

"No, we've just given them the night free. Seraina and Dennis are still quite exhausting, because they have teething trouble."

Barb looks around at the little ones who are sitting on the laps of Hermione and Ginny. 

"Wow, they've grown a lot since I've seen them last at your wedding, Hermione!"

"Yes, they have, haven't they? They can actually sit in a high chair already. We just love to cuddle with them. We don't see them all week, so we love to hold them a lot on the weekends."

Barb seems to be very popular with the young ones. She happily accepts a cup of coffee from Dobby. When I start talking to her I find out that she has a good basic knowledge of magic. 

"You seem to know quite a lot about our ways..." I remark.

She laughs.

"I didn't have much to do left when Remus and Sirius came here. We had already stopped having cows and farming. So I had my household which I could hardly do myself anymore, once Dobby and Winky came to the Sunnegg, because one of them would always pop in and take things out of my hands. I did have the garden, which gave me a bit of work and for the rest of my time I often spent it with the class and listened to all of the lectures. I even did some of their written assignments with them, which I really loved. Remus is a wonderful teacher. Sirius is more hands on, less lecturing. Hence I learned quite a lot. I can even brew some potions now, go figure!"

"Wow! It's great to hear that you're so interested. Shame you can't do it..."

"Absolutely. I'd give a lot for that gift. But I don't have it, so I'm happy to just see what is possible at all. Dobby still pops up sometimes to come and help me with the cleaning in our new apartment. He's just flicking his hand and my windows are clean. I gladly take that. I miss the kids here. Which is why I like to come up now and then and see how they are doing."

Then Remus and Sirius turn up. Still a bit sleepy it seems, but obviously well rested. They both brighten up immediately.

"Hi Barb! It's nice to see you..." says Remus.

"Hello, you two. You look well..."

"We are well. Just a bit exhausted. Teaching fourteen classes is a bit more work than teaching just one, albeit with several subjects," Sirius says with a grin, placing a little peck on Barb's cheek.

"I can imagine. Housi and I were mighty impressed to see that school of yours! It's huge!"

"It is. And right now it's just received a fairly big bunch of new students. Albus thinks of extending the faculty to have less overworked teachers. He's advertising the posts now. At the moment it's really a lot, even though we have two houses together in all subjects, but for the core subjects it still means too much work."

**Parvati**

Saturday morning and I'm not working! To top everything off Draco is here as well, so we have spent one wonderful night of love-making and continue in the morning where we've stopped before sleeping. 

Then the most wonderful thing happens. Not only has he my name on his lips when he comes, I'm quite used to that, but afterwards he holds me and he pops the words I've longed to hear for almost three years! 

"I love you, Parvati..." he whispers.

All I can do is pull him even closer. I'm quite sure that he's loved me all this time but just couldn't express it in words.

"Draco, I'm so glad! I love you, too, you know!"

He gives me an amused glance.

"I've been a prat, wasn't I? Never saying it. I know that I've loved you almost from the beginning, but it seemed so un-Malfoy like to say it."

"Yes, you are a bit of a prat, but even though you never said it, you treated me like I was your wife or something... I never thought we'd still be together after so long."

It's true. I thought it would be fun to have a boyfriend while we were locked up together, but along the way I've fallen in love with the guy. I was always cautious, especially in the beginning, because I knew his reputation. And of course as a Gryffindor I had been at the end of his sneering like every other Gryffindor. But if there is one thing I can say that speaks for Draco, it's that he treated me like a lady from the beginning. Considerate, kind, loving. That was one of the reasons why it felt so natural to sleep with him almost right away. To my surprise I found that he was as much of a virgin as I and I have to say, it pleased me in a way. 

Right now he transforms and all of a sudden I have the cat on my belly, purring and softly pawing me. I laugh and pet him, he's so lovely with his creamy soft fur. I can feel the purring underneath the pelt. He stretches and all I hear anymore is a faint meouw...

After getting up and taking a shower we go over to the former classroom, which is now the combined living and dining room and meet the rest of the gang. It's already half past eleven, but they're all still sitting there, some of them in pyjamas or sweatpants and t-shirts, happily chatting and cuddling with the twins. 

"Good morning, everyone!" Draco greets them cheerfully.

"Good morning! You look like that cat just crawling out of the cream jar, Draco!" Remus teases.

Draco only grins.

"What do you want? I am that cat after all! And I have just crawled out of the cream jar..."

"Yes, you are that, and you know what? You'll have to pay attention, because you drool when you purr!" I say with a snicker.

"I most certainly do not drool!" he protests.

"Oh, you don't? I've had to wipe it all off and if I'd had anything on I could prove it!" 

Everyone laughs. Ron looks over at Justin and says:

"You'd better watch yourself, too, love!"

We kid around for a while. Draco and I eat some breakfast, then he says:

"We're going to Nice today, I want to show Parvati the land we bought for the fun park. Anyone want to come along? It's still all raw forest and alps though, we're still busy to put the Muggle repelling charms on. To make them permanent is a lot of work! There are lots of forests, but they're not really thick, so we can build some of the slides through the forests."

I'm really looking forward to see the area. He says there's not much to see yet, but I know he and the twins must have seen something. He says it's very wild, as it's one of the few areas in France which are scarcely populated. 

We're joined by the whole gang. They all get dressed and are told where to apparate on a map. The lot is in between a national park and the Italian border in an area called Alpes Maritimes. It's not too far away from Nice, and when we get there we're all amazed that it's still quite warm. Draco explains it with the proximity of the Mediterranean. 

"For wizards this is an ideal area, because it's scarcely populated, it's easy to access either through the Portkey station at Nice, which has a small wizarding community and from there through Floo or Portkey for families and apparition for adults. It's in the mountains, so we have the incline we need for the slides. Fred, George, Lee and I have started to build a small blockhouse as our headquarters for the duration of the construction of the park. It's just behind that bit of forest over there..."

We follow him to a small cabin, which consists of a large open room, serving as office, living room, dining room and kitchen. Four rooms are added around the open one, and a comfortable bathroom.

"Wizarding construction is great, I've noticed. The guys we ordered to do this have it done in three days! There are the plans! Come and have a look!"

**Hermione**

It's great to see Draco so focused on his project! Nothing is left of the sneering, blasé teenager he played so well only a few years ago. Now he has something to do and this looks like a lot of work.

"The lot is 13.5 square kilometres. We have some bits of forest and more alpine meadows. As you can imagine most of the work consists of charming it Muggle secure right now. That's the first bit, then we'll have to cast illusion charms in masses, the likes we have at Hogwarts, that makes Muggles who see it think it's a wasted ruin. Here everything will look just like normal unpopulated alpine meadows and forests. There's a smallish road that leads to the nearest town and some even smaller roads that lead up in the Alps."

"Do you do all the charming yourselves?" Remus asks.

"Most of it. We don't want to have too many hired people before we actually start constructing the site. We have two experimental charmers from the French Ministry, who are working with us during the week. They use some new Muggle repelling charms, that can be cast on a whole square metre. Which reduces the work on one thousand charms per square kilometre now, where you had to put one every other centimetre before. It's still very tiring. We're almost done though."

"And then what are you actually going to construct?"

"Two parts. There's the water-park, which will have pools with similar designs as the Alpamare, only it will be even more sophisticated. There will be pools simply with waves, but there will also be pools where visitors can go through an adventurous ride through a whole jungle of events. Obstacles and creatures and stuff. That will all be set up indoors. We'll have a larger outdoor pool, where all the slides will end. And another outdoor pool, which we'll heat up very warm, so that it can be used summer and winter. Some of the slides will be covered for security reasons and others will be just like the slides at the Alpamare, you run down on mats. That's the water part. Then there will be another part which will be more like the Muggle fun parks with rides of all sorts, anything from a simple carousel kind to brooms and some more experimental ones. And of course there will be a couple of pubs and restaurants. We're still considering whether we should add a small hotel."

Wow. They do plan big! On the other hand they have a lot of money together, so why not use some of it. It sounds like a very good idea and if they advertise it cleverly it would mean that they should have guests from all over Europe's wizarding communities. The French Ministry probably won't have anything against that tourism at all.

"Best of all is that there's lots to do in the area. In spring, summer and fall the people can take a quick hop down to the Côte d'Azur, where there are really wonderful beaches and there's loads of lovely places to see. They can plan vacations around the visit here. That's what the French Ministry hopes for and we would be pleased to see it come true. In any case we'll strive to work together with some of the wizarding communities along the Mediterranean to get people to book vacations for more than just two or three days, which would do the wizarding tourism a load of good. Plus we plan to offer combined arrangements for vacations and visit of Dragon's Tales included."

"You've got very sound plans there, Draco! I'm sure this will work out. You'll certainly have a lot of work with it still, but it sounds like this could be a success," Sirius remarks. 

"That's what we hope. The next step will be the founding of the Dragon's Tales Company. If any of you want to take part - you would be welcome... we do plan to give the extended family shares of the company as gifts. George and Fred have made very good business with the Commumirrors, Hermione, they have quite a lot they can invest now. I'll probably hold 60% and the twins will take 40% minus whatever amount of shares we either sell to other investors or give away as gifts. We expect the company to be profitable within at the maximum two years. As you can see I'm learning my business lessons right now. I found that the twins really have a nose for business and while they still do a lot for their joke shop they have cut the inventing part by about half, because as long as their products are still hits they don't really need to get new stuff out. And in the meantime those two are gaining a lot of competence in the business realm."

I'm impressed by Draco's speech. It just flows out of him, he doesn't stop and think for a moment, it's clear that in the past weeks he's learned a lot and it's come to him easily. I'm quite sure it's not only the twins with the necessary business instinct, but that Draco has a good portion of that as well. 

Apart from the block house there's nothing to see yet. They still expect about two weeks of charms work to do. 

**Draco**

They're all totally excited about this! What's really nice, is that they don't feel that only on behalf of the twins, but for myself, too. It's amazing, but that motley mixture of people has really become my family. They have taken me in like a lost puppy or a stray cat and now I'm really needing their warmth, support and joy on my behalf. I think that's why I was finally able to tell Parvati that I love her. She's been so much like a rock in the ocean, a solid one on which I could rely. Of course I know that there's a lot of fancy girlishness around Parvati, but she's chosen to become a healer, something I'd never expected. She's great and I don't regret a single minute with her. 

But besides Parvati there are all the others. Giving up the snobbish behaviour has been worth it, considered that I've gained twelve siblings and better foster parents than anyone could hope for. Remus and Sirius have never once been condescending. I think it's because I've really had a good start with Remus and then Sirius, who both gave me solid ground to walk on after having tread water for all of my life.

Father has brought me up to become an unfeeling machine that was ordered to do his bidding and I've done that until one day I realised that he was using me. The revelation came when I saw Voldemort for the first time at the Manor. I wasn't even presented, I had to stay out of the way still, but of course I watched through some crack in a wall or a door because I had to know what was going on. At first I was still excited at the thought that Voldemort would deem my family worthy of his visit, but then I saw my parents on the floor kissing the seam of Voldemort's robes. That did it for me! I knew they were nothing more than his slaves after I've heard those oily comments of that snake. Father and Mother were ready to torture and kill just to please this abomination. I suppose they did that before and they probably even liked it. And of course the last straw was Father's attempt to kill me outright. And his intention to kill Neville as well, just because he happened to be at the wrong place in the wrong moment. Now I can at least sympathise with Harry as to his guilty feelings after Diggory was killed. I needed to almost experience the same thing to understand. 

I had liked to taunt and tease and be a little mean with my classmates of the other houses. It was quite satisfying back then to have two bodyguards, even if they were as dumb as stones. But in that moment, watching the pathetic worship of Voldemort from my father I understood, that I didn't want to have any part in that whole Death Eater business. I kept to myself, made myself mostly invisible and returned to Hogwarts for my fifth year. I had actually planned to go to Dumbledore and ask him for advice on how to get away from these circles. Then Father decided to be a prat. Very untypical, but from the protocol of the trial, which I've read! I could see that he was practically forced to bring on his contribution to the next generation. Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle had already joined the ranks by then, as well as some others who had just left school shortly before or were in the upper forms. I was never so glad to see McGonagall as I was then. She can be dead dangerous if need be, that woman. 

And that brought me to my second chance. I've heard so many people talk about second chances and what it had given them. When it was my turn and I was given a chance to start again I was deeply thankful. It was a very slow process, but now, almost three years after that I think I'm fully accepted and belong. I don't even want to imagine what my father would say to the fact that I'm not only socialising with several Weasleys, but that two of them are going to be my business partners. The most cheerful ones on top of it. I think I should send him an owl to Azkaban and tell him. 

This is going to be a business, but I expect to have a lot of fun with it as well. I've never worked as much before and it's backbreaking work to charm such a large area with Muggle repelling enchantments. But I will be able to look back and say that I've built all this with my own work, not the hired work of some almost slaves. I'd never have thought that such a thing could make me so proud. Every evening when I get back to the cabin I feel accomplished. Surprising, how satisfying this can be!

Another thing I have to thank the gang and Remus and Sirius for is that I've actually started to like school work at the Sunnegg. Before I was barely average and if I did well in Potions it was mostly because Snape let me do anything I liked just to spite the Gryffindors. Sirius and Remus made me see that teaching and learning can take place on a whole other level than only competition or just doing what was needed to pass. I had to really pull myself together to not sneer at Hermione's eagerness to learn new things. And to keep them. But once I saw her for what she really is, not the Muggle born witch, but the really, truly gifted and powerful witch, I was able to see past my prejudices. Now I admire her immense curiosity for everything there is to learn. She likes knowing things for the sake of knowing, not proving that she is the best. Not that she minds being the best. My hatred of the likes of her mostly came from having heard about the lesser value of Muggle-borns or half-bloods from the day I was born. It was practically hammered into me during all of my early childhood and frankly, what reason did I have not to believe my parents? 

I've wondered for a long time how Sirius was able to shake all that off. I mean, he was born into THE Black family. The heirs of the Black family line. He was the heir himself. My mother often complained about him and his traitorous behaviour and that he never deserved to be born into this family. From what I heard from Tonks and Sirius I can only say that I wouldn't want to know how my great-aunt really was. I've only seen her a few times when I was very small. All I remember is that she looked like a hag. When I mentioned that to Sirius, he grinned and said he'd been very thankful to have inherited his father's looks. He also told me that there was another uncle, so a great-uncle to me, who was more like Sirius and Tonks, a very nice fellow, Sirius said. Then he told me that said Uncle Alphard left him a whole lot of money and that this enabled him to leave the family for good without being destitute. Bet the old codger must have really liked Sirius. Now Sirius has the whole family inheritance and actually he'd never have to work a day in his life anymore, he could easily live for the rest of his life just using up what's in the Black family vaults. There must easily be as much in them as there is in the Malfoy vaults. But he's paid for all of that with more than anyone should have to. I really thought that it was all true, I only learned about the truth when I came to the Sunnegg. Slowly I then learned about his childhood and what he went through not only back before he even came to Hogwarts, but afterwards, when his parents heard that he had not been sorted into Slytherin. It must have been hell! I know that had I ended up anywhere else than in Slytherin then Father would probably have treated me like dirt, even if my house would have been Ravenclaw. And finally I can't even imagine what Sirius must have gone through in Azkaban. 

In my sixth year I really started to talk to Sirius. He is a great guy. Apart from all the love of fun he's a very solid character. Had to be to survive something like Azkaban and stay lucid. He said that as soon as he was out of the Dementor's claws it got a lot better immediately, but being on the run must have been almost as hard, even with that perfect disguise of turning into a dog. What impressed me most though was what he told me about Azkaban. I'm probably one of the very few people he's ever told how it really felt to be in there. It is one of the reasons why I respect him so much, he's not only survived, but he's had the hell multiplied because he could be tortured during the whole time he was in there. Others were mad long before that and the Dementors could hardly feed on them anymore. But if they caught Sirius in his human form he suffered the same in his tenth year there as he did in his first few days. 

Then he's really deeply in love with his mate. To think that they've been together for more than twenty years and out of those twenty years they actually spent five or six really together... to me it seems to be a miracle that their relationship actually held up. And that's certainly not only because werewolves mate for life. Remus isn't even sure whether that's true at all, but he says that being away from his mate really does him no good. It's certainly true that Remus has looked healthy and strong since he's with Sirius again, much less tired than when he was a teacher at Hogwarts in my third year. 

We got to know a completely different Professor Remus Lupin at the Sunnegg anyway. He was the same in the classroom, competent, mild and yet firm, calm and knowledgeable, but as soon as classes were out he turned into a sparkling person with a love for bantering, playing and having fun. 

And lastly my 'siblings'! We kind of made for a house of our very own, despite the flags of the four houses which still hang on the wall in the kitchen at the Sunnegg. It felt like that at least when we were back at Hogwarts for the OWLS and NEWTS. It was a really good feeling. Maybe because I've finally had a sense of belonging, while I only felt that I was a noble member of Slytherin house. I didn't really belong, because no one actually belongs together in that house. Now that I know what a real family is like I can understand their dislike. No, not dislike, but certainly mistrust. It's all a great misunderstanding anyway. The Slytherins behave nasty, because they sense that everyone else detests them. Everyone else detests them because they behave nasty. The cycle starts again. Both sides are at the same time right and wrong. Not much one can do except either giving up Slytherin house - at least for a period of let's say fifty years - or at least take it out of those dungeons. I shudder to think that possibly Denny or Seraina could end up down there. Oy! Do I still sound like a Slytherin? Though the twins will be well in the know that the hat likes children who know where they want to go and those two have Gryffindor written all over them!

We've returned to the Sunnegg. I'll be back in the cabin on Monday.


	6. Romping the forest, haunts at Privet Drive

**Wednesday, 4.11.1998 / Hermione**

Full moon tonight. I've called Remus on the Commumirror and he says the weather is dry, if a bit cold, so I told him, I'd come up for a run in the forest tonight if he wants me to. He said he'd be pleased. So now I'll be going up to Hogwarts right after lectures and Harry wants to come along, too. 

Our last lecture of the day is a History lecture about the foundation of the International Confederation of Wizards, a very interesting bit. Marc Marais, one of our classmates calls to me at the end:

"Hey, Hermione, are you guys coming with us? We're planning on a drink at the Leaky Cauldron right now..."

"Sorry! We're heading up to Hogwarts right now for a moonlight romp with our favourite werewolf..." I say with a cheeky grin.

"What? You'll end up being killed, you idiot!" Marc shouts.

"Nope. First of all he's under the influence of the Wolfsbane potion and then I can turn myself into a form he wouldn't even attack if he weren't..."

He stares at me, puzzled.

"An animal," I explain.

"You dare turning yourself into an animal? But how do you spell yourself back?"

"Like this!"

I quickly transform and some of the people around us scream, because obviously they think I'm a werewolf, too. I come back and hold up my hands.

"It's my Animagus form, I'm not a werewolf myself. I can transform into the wolf anytime. Harry's a dog."

"Well, there's an interesting thing. The famous Potters are both Animagi! Is there anything you guys can't do?" Marc asks.

"Lots. We've been trained by an Animagus, so it was a bit easier to learn. But now we have to go, sorry! Some other time!"

Harry and I wave our hands and apparate away to Hogsmeade. We've taken our brooms along, in small size to fit into our briefcases. All we have to do is enlarge them again and then we've shortened the way to the school to about five minutes. We dismount in front of the main door and head inside. On the way to Remus' and Sirius' flat we meet Minerva.

"Hermione! Harry! How nice to see you!" she says, looking pleased.

"Hello, Minerva. It's nice, to see you, too! You're looking well..." I reply.

"I am well. Apart from the fact that our esteemed headmaster thinks of retirement. He says he's getting too old for this!"

"Oh, that's sad. Did he mention a date already?"

"Unfortunately. End of the school year. He says he'd still like to have something of his house in Cornwall."

"Oh dear! So you're preparing yourself to become headmistress?" Harry asks.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like it. It means we'll be looking for a new potions teacher the third year in a row. Two of them even, as we plan to separate upper and lower forms and get two teachers for the core subjects."

"That means you'll plan to shift Sirius from Potions to Transfiguration?" I ask.

"Of course! He's a genius! He easily beats me AND Albus, and that means something. I want to give him the upper forms."

"Great! Does he know already?"

"Yes. Actually I'm just coming from telling him. You'll find him in a pretty good mood," Minerva says and looks fairly smug.

Harry and I laugh and say:

"Good. We plan on a moonlight run in the forest and some frolicking with Remus!"

"They'll be happy about that. Remus is doing very well. He'll also take over the upper forms in Defence."

"I'm so glad to hear he's well. They finally have the kind of life together they should have had so long ago," Harry remarks.

"Definitely. - Well, I'll have to hurry along. We're pretty busy these days!"

"Have a nice evening, Minerva! We'll see you..."

"Same to you! And enjoy your romp in the forest. Darn it, if I don't join you at some point!"

Harry and I have to laugh and wink.

"Why don't you? They wouldn't mind!"

"Too many dogs! Definitely too many canines!" Minerva states theatrically, snickers and rushes off. 

As soon as we're entering the 'Carnal Canines' home they pull us inside of the living room and tell us the news. Sirius is really pleased. He likes Potions, but if he has the choice he does prefer Transfiguration, so he's very happy with his prospects.

"And only the fifth through seventh years. They get a lesson more per week, but still, that's only twelve classes if we return to teaching each house on its own. Or even only six if we keep up teaching two houses together! We'll have a lot more time to do more serious lesson preparing, grading and of course we'll be able to do more with our children!" Sirius tells us.

"Hey, that's really good! I think it was about time, you hardly had any time to do anything... I used to wonder how the teachers got through all of their work when I was at Hogwarts," Harry exclaims.

Before we go out we have to look at the little ones. Remus and Sirius put one of them on each of our arms, then Sirius calls Winky and asks her to get dinner for us to the flat. We eat together with the twins in their high chairs, but both of them are getting very tired. Remus looks at the clock on the mantle and says:

"Sorry, love, I have to transform..."

"That's perfectly alright, love, just wait for us to put the little ones to bed, okay?"

"Of course."

Remus picks Seraina up, kisses her on the cheeks and says:

"Sleep very well, my sweet one! I can't take you to bed tonight, but I'll be back tomorrow! Good night, love!"

Then he repeats the procedure with Denny. After that he transforms and Sirius lets the babies give him a rub over the back. Harry takes Seraina, Sirius holds Denny and I just tag along with them to wish the little ones a good night, too. While Sirius and Harry put them to bed I return to the living room and take off my outer clothes, because they get fairly rumpled during the time I'm in my wolf form. I transform and yip at Remus, who starts to sniff me and gives me signals of his alpha status. I give him a wolfish grin. Hey! As soon as you're a wolf you think you can become a bloody macho? No, sir!

After a while Sirius and Harry come out of the children's rooms. Winky is coming back and she'll stay with the children until we return. Sirius leads us out of the castle. There are still a lot of the students in the halls, as it's not even eight o'clock yet, but they don't seem to fear Remus. Some of them even wish us a good time!

Once outside, Sirius and Harry transform as well and we take the way over to Hagrid's cabin. He's still out it seems, as there are no lights. We meet him on his way back from the forest.

"Thought I ought not to stay in the forest... it's the full moon and there's others 'n Remus out there!" he says.

I transform back to say hello. He pulls me in his usual tight embrace and says:

"You're one 'ell of a wolf, Hermione! So you decided to come and have a bit of a run with the Professors?"

"Yeah. I was looking forward to having some fun out there with them for a while now! Since it's dry tonight we thought we'd both come up."

"Have fun then, all of you! Though not many people would say it's fun goin' in there!"

Sirius gives a bark, Remus smirks a wolf smirk and Harry barks his bright border collie bark. I grin and wish Hagrid a good night.

"If you hear some howling, it's probably us having a howling good time," I say.

He grins, waves, takes Fang by the collar, because the boar hound would probably love to join us in our romp and pulls him back to his cabin. I transform back, because I'm starting to freeze already and once in my pelt I'm feeling right warm again. This is an amazing thing, I really love that feeling of having a fur. It's almost water proof, I really have to be in the water for a long time, before it gets through to my skin. And if I come out, all I need to do is shake the water out and I'll dry in a very short time. 

We break into a lope and follow Moony, who leads us inside of the forest. It's fun, though the pads on my paws are still a bit soft, so I feel more of the ground than Moony or Padfoot, who are used to it. We communicate in the most minimal ways now. We can only understand each other through the sound of our barks or whines, through body signals, licking or sniffing each other. It's still a learning process for Harry and I. Both of us haven't transformed all too often lately, but we don't have a problem holding the form and holding up with Padfoot and Moony. I'm thinking that our alter forms should have a name as well. We should have fun finding names for our Animagi. 

I'm musing a bit about that, while we are passing through a very dark part of the forest. Even my ability to see at night and my good sense of smell don't help me much. Remus has reduced the tempo. He's turned to the west soon after we entered the forest and leads us in an extended circle around Hogwarts. Now we've turned north and he keeps that direction for a long time. After an hour we finally reach a fairly large clearing and I soon see why it's so large. It contains a small lake, not much bigger than a large pond. We reach it where the forest ends just on the edge of the water. Remus points his nose over to the other shore. A herd of unicorns! They are really beautiful, all of them blindingly white, about seven grown and two young ones, who are not yet so white. Gosh, I still think they're the most beautiful creatures out there! They have noticed us of course, there's nothing they don't notice. They are sniffing, but don't seem to think we're after them, so they keep drinking water from the pond. We tiptoe around the pond to the other side and cross the clearing a bit away from the unicorns. They just turn their heads and look after us, but don't move one inch. I sigh. It's always amazing to see one of them, but a whole herd? Wonderful!

It seems like Remus wants us to see as many of the forest's magical inhabitants as possible, as we get to see a number of them in the next few hours. Moony is very alert and perks his ears in every direction. We reach another clearing and decide to take a break. After drinking from a small brook we slump down on the soft mossy ground. Padfoot is lying next to Moony with his head on Moony's back. Moony has his on his front paws and looks at us. Harry looks the most tired. His legs are a bit shorter, so he's done more running. I can only hope that Moony knows where we are, because I certainly have no idea! Sirius transforms back to say:

"We're quite a bit to the north of the castle, but to get back we'll cut it shorter than the large circle we made to get here. Moony and I know well where we are, so don't worry. Are you okay, Harry?"

Harry nods with his head. He's stopped panting now, so we give him a while longer to rest up, Sirius transforms back and after a while we start on the way back. I don't know how long we've been out, but it must have been several hours. I'm feeling fitter than ever before. I flex my muscles under the fur and think of the ache I'd have to expect in the morning. 

**Harry**

This is really fun and it's been a great experience. I've seen the Forbidden Forest in a completely different light for once. It seems that when one's an animal or a magical creature of some sorts one has nothing to fear in here. But I'm glad that Sirius says we're returning now. I'm really getting tired and my somewhat shorter legs have to do more work than their longer ones. 

The wolves are magnificent! To see Moony in his 'natural habitat' as a wolf is simply amazing. He's so strong and knows exactly where we are and how to get to another place and yet another. He must have been in here quite often. 

Another two hours later we finally see the castle again. We get inside, after Sirius has opened the main door and trot through the corridor to the Black-Lupin quarters. And just before we can turn the corner to get there we have to be spotted by Filch. Sirius transforms and tells him it's us. Filch blanches (Remus is a werewolf after all) and backs out quicker than I thought him able to. I send a bark after him and Sirius looks down to me with a grin.

Finally we get to their flat, where we transform back. Remus alone has to wait until moonset, so he goes straight to the soft rug in front of the fireplace and rolls himself into a tight ball. Sirius offers Hermione the shower. She accepts, picks up her robes and vanishes for a quarter of an hour. I flop down on the sofa. 

"You've been great, both of you, Harry!" Sirius says.

"Yeah, but now I'm dead on my feet! We've decided to skip tomorrow's, err... today's morning lecture for sure. We'll see how we feel for the afternoon."

He grins.

"Have you seen the time, then?"

I've seen it. It's almost four in the morning. Which means we've been out for almost eight hours. Sirius offers me a glass of whisky and while we slowly drink it, he says:

"We've run about 55 miles. Remus at his best makes almost fifteen miles per hour, I'm too heavy for that, I get to about twelve. That's quite a bit more than you could do as a human. A normal human that is, I'm not talking about those nutters who manage the Marathon in just above an hour or two or whatever their record is."

"No wonder I'm so out of breath! I don't think I've ever been on my legs so long. And we've been constantly loping along. I didn't even notice, but I'm so much smaller and lighter that I can run much easier as a dog. 55 miles??? I never knew that the Forbidden Forest was that large!"

"Plus you have four paws! That's a hell of a difference. And that forest is even a lot larger. But we've run a whole circle and not in a direct line."

"True."

"Did you like the experience?" he asks.

"Absolutely!"

All of a sudden Dad turns up. He grins and asks Sirius, nodding in my direction:

"So, how did the youngling hold up?"

"Just fine, Dad!" I scoff.

"Yes, he did. As did Hermione. They'll have some aching muscles tomorrow though!"

"Probably. And how did you like the forest? Scary, isn't it?" Dad asks on.

"Actually I've just been thinking about that when we turned back. I thought it must have to do with the fact that we're animals, because I didn't think it scary at all."

Hermione returns from the bath, looking like she's spent the evening at the dancing club rather than romping through a vast forest. I smile at her.

"Gosh, you're lovely, sweetheart!"

She grins, bends down to peck me on the cheeks, then pinches her nose and says:

"You're not right now, Mr Potter, go and wash up!"

I get up, grinning, and go to the shower.

**James**

I wish I could have joined them! I'm missing those moonlight romps so much! They've come back only moments ago, Remus already sleeps on the rug. Sirius sits next to him in sweat pants and an old jumper and Remus has put his head on his mate's thigh. Sirius strokes tenderly over the wolf's back, scratches him behind his ears and I think, this must be bliss for Remus. This potion really must be a gift from heaven for him. Never before would we have been able to be with him like this, and it made him so sad. I can see he presses himself to Sirius, who turns to him and whispers:

"You led us wonderfully tonight, love! We'll hop into bed right now, okay?"

Remus whines a little. 

When Harry returns from the shower, he and Hermione get up and wish us a good night. Or what's left of it. 

"That was great, Remus! Thanks for being such a good guide! I'll recommend you..."

We all laugh, Remus lifts his head and yawns visibly. Hermione just bends down to give him a scratch behind the ears.

"See you soon, dears!"

Sirius gets up and goes to the bathroom, while Moony trots to the bedroom. I look up to the portrait of Sirius' uncle. He's snoozing on his chair, the book in his lap. I envy them. Even the people in the portraits can sleep, we ghosts can't.

That's something I'm missing, actually. I can't sleep, we don't feel any of the human urges like hunger, thirst etc, we just are. Sometimes that's a bit frustrating and it's hard to occupy our times. Right now I decide to return to the Sunnegg to be with Lily. Everyone who's supposed to be home seems to be there and it's absolutely quiet in the house. I find Lily in the front room, reading. 

"Hello, love!" she calls softly.

"Hey there, sweetie..."

"They went right to bed. Apparated up even, because they were so tired," she tells me.

I grin.

"Sirius says they've been doing about 55 miles! I'd be dead after that, even as a stag!"

"Wow! That's a lot."

"Mhm. - Listen, love, I've been thinking about how we could haunt your darned sister! She needs to be punished at least a bit for what she did to Harry!"

"I'm all ears, love. Tell me!" 

"Well, we could start easy. Just a bit of howling, invisible," I start.

"Oh, the old standards, you mean? Like rattling chains and so?"

"They will fall for that perfectly!" I confirm.

She grins a little. 

"Yes, that's a good start. When?"

"Tonight. Midnight."

"I can't wait!"

That's my wife! 

**Thursday, 5.11.1998 / Lily**

Harry and Hermione didn't even come down for breakfast this morning. They slept right through until lunch and when we finally get to see them, Hermione whines about her aching muscles. I have to smile. She isn't a sportive one, so for her it's amazing to have run so long! 

"I think, my muscles would ache, too, if I'd have run 55 miles in one go," I remark.

She turns to Harry.

"We've run 55 miles???"

"That's what Sirius said. About that much, it could have been more or less," Harry confirms.

Hermione looks like she wants to crawl right back into bed. She looks at her hands and shows them to me. Her fingers are quite red. 

"Now I understand, why my finger tips are so hard!" she says. 

Harry grins.

"The wolf didn't mind the running at all! You've been very playful yesterday. Did you enjoy it as much as I did?"

"Oh yes! It was great. Very impressive, too. Do we do that again?"

"If they'll have us..."

The two eat their lunch with Morag and then apparate away to their afternoon lectures. James and I spend our time playing some chess and the wizarding Trivial Pursuit that Harry, Morag, Ron and Justin made. Morag joins us after a while.

"I can't study anymore. I'm done with the homework anyway..."

We keep playing until some of the gang come home for dinner. Then the time crawls slowly by. Finally we reach midnight. James and I apparate to Little Whinging, make ourselves invisible and rush to Privet Drive. All the lights in Number Four are already extinct but one. James apparates inside there, comes back and says:

"It's Dudley's room."

"Ah! So he's home, too... okay, howling through the house right after midnight..."

"Then rattling on some furniture and some chains and finally vanish," James finishes my sentence.

"Yep."

We wait until midnight passes, then apparate inside, where we start swishing through the house and howl with hollow voices. I have a hard time keeping my laughter back. It only takes about five minutes until all three Dursleys come flying out of their rooms, looking terrified. Vernon, who looks like a whale, starts to swear though.

"That's some of the boy's freaks, I'll bet!"

"But we don't see anyone..." Dudley says with a trembling voice.

James rushes right through Dudley, into his room and back, howling all the while. Dudley screams, then Petunia starts to scream as well. Vernon almost explodes, he's so mad. But there's not much he can do, no gun would help, since we're ghosts. Finally neither James nor I can hold back our laughter, so we laugh with a terrifying voice and vanish back to Sunnegg. We both laugh ourselves silly.

"And now?" I ask, once I compose myself.

"I'd say now we're going to repeat that for a week or so, then we step up. We need to let them suffer a bit, after all they made Harry suffer for years! Can you believe that Dudley is even fatter than his father?"

"Hardly. To be so young and so fat must be awful!"

"Let's sneak in at them and see what they're talking about at breakfast," James suggests.

"Okay. Let's stalk them for a while. We might find out what they fear most..."

"Probably that the neighbours learn more about their strange relatives..."

"I bet they don't think we're relatives. I'd bet that Petunia was relieved to hear we're dead..."

A sad thought. She's my sister after all. But what a jerk of a sister. When we arrive at their place in the early morning we can just see her starting breakfast, still looking rather pale from the shock the night before. She puts the breakfast on the table when Vernon comes in, looking just as frightened.

"Do you think it'll come back?" he asks Petunia.

"How should I know? All I know is that it's probably that blasted boy! If only we had been successful of keeping him out of that dreadful... school!" Petunia hisses.

"Well, he's YOUR nephew! You have the weirdness in your family it seems!"

"And what's that supposed to mean? Lily was the only one in my family, as far as I know! And the boy, obviously. Luckily she was killed, or there would have been even more brats like him."

I could kill her on the spot! How can she talk like that? Harry was but a toddler when he came in her care! Care! As if she'd have cared for him, I'm sure she changed Dudley's nappies three times as often as Harry's and she's probably hardly fed my son either.

"I was only wondering how he could have bought all the stuff he got! We never gave him money..." Vernon says.

"Probably on charity..." Petunia muses.

"But then they're rather gracious, I've seen those clothes - they were first class material."

Petunia shrugs her shoulders and Vernon vanishes behind his paper. All of a sudden I can see to my horror, that Vernon's cup of tea lifts into the air, floats over his head, dips... and empties the whole content over his head. James!!! Petunia hasn't seen it and shrieks, even louder than Vernon screams.

"Petunia! Are you out of your mind?" he shouts.

"I haven't done anything! What's wrong all of a sudden?" she cries.

I feel James next to me and box his arm. I can feel him snicker. Vernon has jumped up and looks down on himself.

"Now I need to get dressed all fresh! I'll be late for the office!" 

He storms out of the kitchen and Petunia starts looking around, goes to the windows and peeks out, but of course she can't see anything. We always keep out of the range where she could feel us. She's shaking her head now.

In the next few days more little 'accidents' happen, like Dudley's trousers that get ripped open when he bends down to put the key in the hole of his car. Then he falls through two missing steps in the staircase and finally his bathwater turns to a block of ice once he's sitting inside. James almost howls with laughter at that one. Petunia has a few problems herself. She tries to wash the windows, but they get soiled with footprints from a dog every time she goes over them with the washrag. Next she gets attacked by her vacuum cleaner. Her cooking starts to lack in skill as well, and sometimes things that look and smell perfectly well, taste like soap or petrol. 

By the end of two weeks they're close to a nervous breakdown. That's when we finally show ourselves.

"The past two weeks were for what you did to Harry, you monsters!" I say and turn myself visible.

All of the Dursleys start screaming. James comes out as well and when they finally register that we must be ghosts, their screaming gets even louder.

"Oh yes, we've come back and we're ghosts. We know how you treated our son, who was an innocent little child when he came to you, but you nevertheless thought you had the right to abuse him!"

They are unable to say a word. James finally tells them that they can never expect to be free of our antics now, they'll never know when our next attack would be coming and that they can't even run away. 

"You can go wherever you want, we'll find you and haunt you!" James cackles.

Then we apparate away.

**Friday, 20.11.1998 / Remus**

Today's morning mail brings a letter for Sirius. He starts to smile, pulls it from the envelope and reads it. Then he puts it away and turns to me:

"Remind me that I'll have to tell you something, love..."

"Why not now?"

"Needs more time than we have right now."

"Okay."

My curiosity - and my jealousy - has been aroused. What's in that letter? I'm wondering about that the whole morning, thinking he'd tell me about it at lunch, but he still postpones it. Finally, after the last lessons, both of us have only two, he pulls me down to our flat. Seemingly I don't have to remind him. He just tells me that we should get back to the Sunnegg first, then he'll tell me. As soon as we're there and a bit more comfortable, I nail him down in the small living room.

"So what was this?" I prompt.

"Well, seeing as we'll have a lot less teaching next year, I started to think of some things. Mainly about the fact, that I've only repressed my Azkaban issues and never really worked them out. After those three very happy years with you I think I'm ready to face the ghosts."

I nod. Finally he admits it. Though he'd been very successful in repressing the horrors that should still haunt him they're clearly not gone for good. I'm glad he knows that he's still got those issues. I wait for him to continue.

"I'm not handing myself over to a shrink. I'm convinced that this would only dig out everything and make me more miserable than before. I don't want to do more damage than help. But I want to go about it and revisit those memories. I decided to write my auto-biography."

I gasp. 

"Then I thought I would like to do this together with you. So you write yours, I write mine and both of us together fill the parts we spent together... I contacted an editor and asked him if he'd think such a book would be sold. He JUMPED to it! The letter I got this morning is the offer the publishing house makes us."

He pulls the letter out of his pocket and hands it over to me. I open it slowly and read:

"Dear Professor Black,

According to our negotiations our publishing house offers you the following conditions for the joint auto-biography of you and Professor Lupin:

\-- 5000 Galleons for the manuscript, 15% of the proceeds for every book sold. No deadline. The book will be no less than 300 pages. You provide photos. Again according to your wishes there will be no ghost-writer, you will write the book yourselves. --

If these terms and conditions suit you and Professor Lupin, please send your reply by return owl. Remember that we would be most interested and pleased in publishing such a book, which would certainly find a very large audience.

Sincerely

Kevin C. Brixton

Chief Editor Magipublications Co."

I look up to Sirius. My head swirls. I feel a bit trapped, to be honest. If I decline this then he won't finally attack his issues. But I really hate doing this, I'm sure. There are already too many people who know I'm a werewolf. 

"Can I think this over?" I ask.

"Naturally."

"What will you do if I decline?" I ask.

"Do my own. But I want you to do it, Remus! Not only would it turn out just fine, it would do you as good as it will do me. You have some of those ghosts to attack, too, you know..."

That's what I was afraid he'd say. And he's right of course. 

**Sirius**

I can see how his brain starts working. I know he hates this. But I still hope he'll agree, because it would be good for both of us. I can see the title already. "The Infamous Couple - The Trials and Tribulations of Sirius Black & Remus J. Lupin". But I'm not pestering him. I know if I do that he'll just dig in his heels and be stubborn. The facts are there in the letter in his hands, it's up to him now.

We turn to play with the twins. Denny starts to push himself around when he's on his belly. It goes backwards most of the time, but he's looking all proud when he manages to push himself around. Seraina watches him and looks astonished at what he can do. They are almost seven months old now and can sit well by now. Of course there are already several photos of them on our mantelpieces at Hogwarts as well as here in our living room. We try to catch as many pictures of them as we can, as they change so much and so quickly. By now Seraina has seven teeth and starts on her last incisor while I have the impression that the first canine starts to come out also. Denny is still a bit behind, he has the lower four and the upper middle incisors. We're already brushing them a little, but only with water, so if they swallow they don't get any toothpaste down their throats. We're pretty happy and proud, because apart from their problems with the teething they haven't been ill one single day so far. Both of them have a whole range of sounds by now which we can clearly understand. And both already have a very clear way of showing how much they like certain people. The whole gang at the Sunnegg gets outstretched arms and wide grins and smiles as greetings. The same goes for some of the teachers. They definitely love Poppy, Edith and Minerva. Filius always gets a smile, too.

Playing with the children takes shape beyond lifting them up and swirling them around or tickling them. They can now aim very well when they want to grab things. Their eyes have improved and both are following something that we show them by turning their heads and looking after the thing, mostly a rattle or a little ball. We have started to give them some solid food, but only mashed apples or bananas so far. We'll move on to little bits of cooked veggies soon for lunch. 

Besides our work our children are definitely the centre of our lives right now. There's nothing more important and we gladly postpone our sexual relationship if we think the twins need us more. In spite of their teething they sleep through the night now. We put them down into their cots after eight in the evening and normally they hardly move until the early morning, but after their early breakfast they usually go to sleep again for another hour or two. Remus and I usually use the time from their early breakfast to the time we need to get up for our love-making. Both of us love it in the morning, we always consider it a perfect start to the day. I know that this will change again as soon as the twins start to get out of their cots and come to our bed, which we expect as soon as they start to crawl and get more independent.

**Morag**

Friday again and Sirius, Remus and the twins are coming to Sunnegg. They're most happy that they can spend most of the weekends at home. Both look content and it seems that Sirius is slowly but surely adjusting to the workload. He doesn't look as tired anymore. Maybe it also has something to do with the fact, that the twins are sleeping better and give them time to recuperate now.

I'm seeing Nicole tonight. We've slowly established a solid relationship and I'm always happy to hop over to her for some help with my schoolwork or a cup of tea or just a chat. I'm not saying no to the sex either. Claudine has got used to us. They've entrusted me with a key now and when I apparate I always land in front of the door to their flat. They're the only ones on their floor, so I don't have to be afraid to meet other people. 

My schoolwork is going quite well. I'm good at the languages and of course history is no problem at all, but I need Nicole's help with the maths. Figures aren't really my thing. But I need them to pass the exams. 

I have established a daily routine. I'm so glad that I don't have to care about cooking and housekeeping. Dobby spoils me to bits anyway, because the others are usually gone during lunch. Sometimes Parvati is around, because she is already working shifts at the hospital, still in nursing, but that means she's at home at more unusual times. So I'm working from nine to lunch and after lunch I'm working for another three hours. This way I get by pretty well, because the amount of work is calculated so a fully working person could get through it working only on evenings and weekends. My weekends remain mostly free. Once a month I'm going to the school's central in Zürich for the Saturday lessons with teachers. I'm doing quite well for now. Of course it's only the beginning yet. 

**Mandy**

Friday! I'm finishing today's work. There wasn't much. Seven werewolves who had to come for their registry. They have to come by every two years for that. Since I've started work in September I've met a good number of the werewolves in England. I've even been able to get through to them, that I'm not another of those people who work there and hate them. The people I don't know yet already come into my office with friendlier faces than in the beginning. I suppose they've been told by other werewolves that someone moved into the office who has some understanding for them. One of my jobs is the registry itself, another is to travel around and contact those people who suffer from lycanthropy to see how I can help them. 

When I started out I went through many of the available information here at the registry and found out that every year there are about five to ten new cases. I have files for 238 werewolves, ages from 8 to 89. I've gone through those files one by one and when I have time I visit those werewolves who didn't have to come by for the two yearly registration yet. The eight year old is a girl. She has been registered as a new case only six months ago and the parents have kept her. When I announce my visit they aren't too happy, it seems. 

So today I'm picking up the smallish folder about Case # 5838666 and visit the person who is behind that number: Natasha Bender, eight years old, lives with her parents Bert and Nadine Bender at Hayforth Cottage somewhere in Wiltshire. I knock on their door shortly after lunch. Not only Mrs Bender is there, but Mr Bender, too, which pleases me.

"Hello, my name is Mandy Brocklehurst, I'm here from the Werewolf Registry and Support Unit."

Mr Bender looks me over, then opens the door wide and beckons me inside:

"Good afternoon. Do come in, Miss Brocklehurst!"

He helps me out of my cloak and guides me into the family room, which looks friendly and well worn. Both of Natasha's parents are magical folk. When I sit down they call Natasha inside and I introduce myself again.

"Hello, Natasha! I'm your new caseworker at the Werewolf Registry. Call me Mandy, please!"

We shake hands, then she sits down next to her mother. She's clearly afraid of what's going to happen to her now. Her parents look at me rather suspiciously, too, but I quickly soothe them:

"I'm just making the rounds introducing myself. I'm new at the Registry and I'd like to know the people I am to work with from now on. Of course I could just wait until it's their turn to come and register again, but I thought it would be nicer to make the round and introduce myself."

"Oh, that's fine then. - Would you like some tea, Miss Brocklehurst?" Mrs Bender offers.

"That would be very welcome, thank you, madam!"

Then I turn to Natasha and start asking her about her transformations. Mr Bender tells me that she's getting the wolfsbane potion and that she's transforming in a specially prepared room in the basement. I ask Natasha:

"How can you drink the potion? It's terribly nasty stuff, isn't it?"

"Yes! The first time I vomited and had to take it again."

"Who brews it for you?" I ask.

"Mum. She owns an apothecary."

"Oh, that's good then, because I can give her a tip to make it better. I have a friend who alternately brews the potion for our former teacher, Professor Lupin, who's now teaching at Hogwarts again, and she found out that all it takes is a bit of Muggle artificial sweetener, to improve the potion dramatically."

"Hogwarts has a werewolf on the teaching staff?" Mr Bender asks, baffled.

"Oh yes. Professor Lupin was bitten when he was five. He attended Hogwarts and later studied at Avalon Academy. He's the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. Much loved by most of the students."

"I didn't know that. He attended Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes, he did. No one knew, only his dorm mates and a few choice others. And of course the teachers. Remus has a very clean record and he was one of the first to take the wolfsbane potion on a regular basis."

"Do you think, that Natasha will be able to attend Hogwarts, too, then?" he asks hopefully.

"I noticed she is the only child younger than eleven years since Remus. I'm quite sure she will be getting her letter, because Professor Dumbledore will certainly give her the same chance that Remus received. It will be up to you if you want to go there openly as a werewolf or if you want to keep it a secret and only tell a choice circle of people."

"Oh, now I'm very relieved. The people at the Registry who were there before you were quite adamant that they wouldn't expose the other students to a werewolf among them."

I'm getting angry.

"And all the while they knew perfectly well that Remus Lupin would be back at Hogwarts from on September of this year! This is awful! Remus was teaching there for the first time when I was in my third year, then he left for a year and after that he taught a group of students at a safe house in Switzerland for three years. I was there for two years of those three. I went back to Hogwarts for my last year. All I can say is that we all loved him not only as a teacher, but as a friend and father figure. I will certainly help you to go to Hogwarts, Natasha."

"Thank you, Mandy. I'd really like to go. I'm quite alone here and if it weren't for my younger brother I'd have no one to play. My sister left for Hogwarts this year."

"You'll join her there! I'll check it with Professor Dumbledore. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met and even if he will probably have left Hogwarts by the time you start, it will be Professor McGonagall who follows as headmistress and she thinks much the same as he does. Remus is a very close friend of hers."

After that the visit becomes very pleasurable. I don't even return to the office afterwards, I'm going straight home. Natasha asks me:

"Where do you live, Mandy?"

"I'm actually still living at that farmhouse in Switzerland, Natasha. Or I'm living there again. It's beautiful there and I'd miss it a lot. In fact I'm returning there now."

"You're apparating from Switzerland to London every day?" Mr Bender asks me.

"Yes, I do. I'm already quite used to it."

"Good for you then. It was a pleasure to meet you. Maybe there's some hope for our child after all. There was someone who actually told us it would be best to just kill her!"

"I know. I've read the report and I've heard the same from Remus. It's really awful!"

I'm saying goodbye and apparate back to the Sunnegg. Tonight I'll be out back in London to meet my boyfriend, who I have yet to present to my extended family. I know they're all curious, but I think I'm not ready to share him just yet. I'm meeting Jason for dinner at a wizarding restaurant in Diagon Alley, so I can apparate there, which gives me ample time for a shower and to get dressed. Then I still have a bit of time to chat with my friends before I leave. I'm hearing the latest from Hogwarts, from St. Mungo's and how Morag's schoolwork is doing. Shortly before seven I apparate out to the Diagon Alley. It's fairly cold by now and I'm pulling my cloak tightly around me. Jason meets me in front of the restaurant. We embrace and I kiss him, happy to see him again. We'll not linger after dinner, we'll go right to his place. Jason works at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as a lawyer for the prosecution. He's had a lot of work these past few years, but he says it's back to getting better again. Mmm, another kiss, please! That's it, love! We step inside of the restaurant and a waitress shows us a table. Once we're sitting he says in a very low voice:

"Fudge is finally clearing out of his office, Mandy! It will be all over the news tomorrow, he's leaving by the end of the year."

"Wow! Finally! That's at least fifteen years too late."

"Some say so. But back then they didn't have an alternative, Dumbledore didn't want the post and the only other one who wanted it was Lucius Malfoy. Fudge was by far the lesser evil, especially since he listened to Albus."

I nod. Then I ask:

"And now? Are there any rumours as to who will be appointed?"

"I think, Bones has a good chance. It's up to the full Wizengamot to elect the new Minister. Those who want to run for it have to apply there."

"Bones would be good, I think," I say.

"Yes, she would be. She's got a very good grip on the MLE. In fact we'd be in complete disorder if it weren't for her."

"That's going to cause a little chain reaction to replace the next person if she's leaving, eh?"

A waitress elf offers us the menus and asks what we'd like to drink. We order some white wine and I order some water along with the wine. 

"Yes, of course there will be a bit of a movement - a new head, then a new deputy etc."

"Will you apply?"

"For what? Minister? I'm not out of my mind, love!"

I laugh.

"Of course not, silly, I know you wouldn't! I mean for the deputy head of the MLE."

He grins.

"Yes, I think I will. Besides it's good to at least attempt, but I'm quite serious. I'd still do my own work, which I like for the most part. Joanne McGovern gets to be the head, that's for sure, but the deputy will be a bit more difficult. There are two others in my position who could do the job."

"I wish you luck then..."

"You're my good luck charm, love," he says, grinning again.

"I love you, too."

We order our dinner and just as we get served I see my parents entering the restaurant. Luckily they're with some friends. Still I groan a bit.

"What's up, Mandy?" Jason asks.

"My parents just came in."

"Oh." He understands. He knows I'm not too fond of them at the moment.

"That reminds me... when will you finally think I'll be eligible to be presented to your adopted family?"

"Do you want that?" I ask back.

"Yes, I think so. They sound like a delightful bunch."

"Then soon. Next weekend okay?"

"Sure!"

I'm not looking around for my parents and only when they pass us they recognise me. Mum comes to the table immediately and I have to get up and greet her. I can't just ignore her without causing a scene. I'm introducing Jason.

"Mum, please meet Jason Taylor, he's working as a lawyer at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Jason, this is my Mum."

They shake hands and Mum gives Jason the once over, which he bears with an indulging smile. 

"I don't want to keep you from enjoying your dinner, I see you've just been served. Have a nice evening," Mum says and follows Dad and their friends.

Once they're out of earshot I sigh:

"Phew. That went well..."

"Quick and easy in any case. I can see you're rather cool with each other."

"Polite distance, you could say. They've been very uncivil to Remus. Something I can't stand!"

"There was no need to be, was there?"

"Of course not. Once you'll meet him you'll notice that he's one of the nicest people you can meet! He's never been anything but polite and friendly to them, but they treat him like he'd be scum. For no other reason than the one night every month he transforms into the wolf."

"That's awful. I mean, I don't know any werewolves, though I'll probably meet some, seeing that you work at the Registry, but I would expect that there are people among them I'd like to meet and others I'd despise, just like among any other group of people."

"Which is exactly the way to approach them. Most of the ones I've met so far are just as okay as any other people. Some have been less than friendly, but given the treatment they get that's really no wonder. I hope that I'll bring them around though."

We enjoy our dinner undisturbed and talk all the while. There's lots to discuss. Jason is twelve years older than I, but I don't give a damn about that, he's nice, friendly, good looking, too, intelligent and witty. At Hogwarts he's been in Ravenclaw, too, so there's familiar things to talk about, too. After dinner we settle the bill and apparate to his house. He has a nice cottage type house in Kent. He offers more coffee and a very good brandy and grins, because I accept both with pleasure. 

"You really like brandy?" he asks.

"Prefer a good Cognac, but I suppose we've been spoiled by Remus and Sirius."

"Cognac it is then..."

He summons a bottle and the larger glasses and in no time I'm gently swaying the glass and lower my nose inside, to get a good whiff of the contents. The bouquet has unfolded in the glass and I am pleased with the scent. I take a little sip and turn it around in my mouth.

"Mm, very nice stuff."

"I should hope so! It's twelve years old Cognac. How come you have a taste for that, you're just 18!"

I grin.

"Well, in Switzerland they're not so touchy when it comes to alcohol. Not that the kids there drink lots of it, no more than elsewhere I think, but Remus and Sirius helped us develop a taste for the more exclusive sorts. The quality stuff so to speak. In terms of wines and liquors. We were allowed small amounts, so we learned to enjoy this with care."

"Reasonable guys, these two, I'd say. No wonder your parents disliked them."

"Oh, they had no idea about that part! They knew we were allowed a glass of wine occasionally. I don't think they minded that. All in all they just minded that we were in the hands of a werewolf and an ex convict. Never mind that said ex convict was imprisoned without having committed a crime."

The evening gets late. We move on to chess and later, much later, to the bedroom. 

**Thursday, 26.11.1998 / Remus**

After the last lesson Sirius and I get dressed in our warm cloaks and tell Winky we'll be back before dinner, we have to go to Hogsmeade for a shopping trip. We take the brooms and reach our destination after several minutes. It's cold, but we have rather a bit more of that for a short time than a tiny bit warmer for a long time. We reach Dervish and Banges. This is a fairly large department kind of store. We ask for Pensieves and are directed to the second floor. Both of us buy one. They're lovely little basins. We pay for them, then go the way back to the castle. When we reach our flat again, we put both Pensieves on the coffee table. Sirius quickly turns his another colour, so we wouldn't place memories in the wrong one. 

"Okay, so you think it would be best to just place memories in there to look at them again from another angle and then write them down..." I ask.

"Yes. Let's read the description of how this is supposed to work."

With the Pensieves we received a small booklet, which I read now. It gives me the spell I need to think to get hold of the thoughts I want to place in the Pensieve. It also tells me that I can put an unlimited amount of memories inside. I test it, think the spell and hold my wand to my temple, then slowly pull it away. A silvery thread-like something seems to be stuck to it and I carefully transport it to the Pensieve where it drops from the wand. Sirius watches and asks:

"May I look at it?"

I grin.

"Sure."

"Will you come along?"

"If you really want to..."

He takes my hand and we both touch the swirling thing in the Pensieve and get sucked inside. Sirius recognises the memory immediately. It's the day James told us that Lily had finally listened to his pleas and promised to go out with him. 

>> Sirius is lounging on my bed, while I'm finishing off an essay. He's treating me with lots of little nice strokes over my back and I'm leaning on him. This peaceful moment gets interrupted when the door gets thrown open with a big bang and James barges in, crying:

"HEY GUYS! Sing hallelujah for me, she finally said YES!"

Sirius jumps out of my bed and starts a victory dance with James, both singing very loud and very off key and I grin, while Peter, who's followed James a bit more slowly, comes in and closes the door, joining them in their dance. 

"That's really great, mate! I'm sure you'd be good together," Sirius says and pulls James in a hug.

"Thanks, mate! I'm so glad she finally agreed to give it a try. Saturday is the day, cross all your fingers for me, okay?"

"We will, James, because you'll need it," I promise, still grinning. 

Then I have finally finished my homework. The four of us decide to go for dinner and of course we're going down all together, James and Peter ahead of us, Sirius and I hand in hand right behind and where we have the space we go all four in a row and make our presence known quite prominently. We reach the Great Hall and sit down on our usual places. It's the end of our sixth year and we're all pretty happy.

Sirius still holds my hand when we come out of the short memory. He smiles. 

"Did you choose this particular memory specifically or was it coincidental?" he asks.

"I chose it. You think the spell and pick one of your memories. If you want to just pick something that you don't remember specifically, you can do that as well, but you use another spell."

We study the little booklet and then find that spell. This time Sirius tries it. We watch the memory float in the Pensieve and he looks at me.

"Do we dare going in?" he asks with a bit of a shaky voice.

I suspect that a memory plucked from his subconscious would not be the most pleasant one, so I brace myself and say:

"I'll come with you..."

He sighs. Then I take his hands and we go in again. I don't recognise the house, but it's during our Hogwarts days for sure. 

>>Then I see Sirius lying on the floor of a very dark room, hardly breathing. He looks broken, so beaten and I realise it must have been at his parent's house. The door opens and his father enters, throwing a cold look down on his son and asking in an even frostier tone:

"So, did you have enough? Are you going to behave? You are to join the Dark Lord's ranks in a few hours, you'd better get up now!"

When Sirius doesn't move, his father tries to use the Enervate spell, with little effect. Still, Sirius pulls himself up and says:

"I'm not joining those Death Eaters! You can't make me!"

"I'll teach you to talk back, Sirius Black! Crucio!"

For two minutes Sirius is put under the terrible curse. I squeeze his hands as we watch him writhe and scream. Then his father leaves and locks the door from the outside. Now Sirius gets active. He picks his wand from his trunk, which seems to be still packed. He must have only just returned from Hogwarts. Sirius picks up his alarm clock, whispers: "Portus!", taps the clock with his wand while he grabs his trunk and the next moment he's vanished. He lands just inside the door of the Potters' house on the outskirts of London. Then he faints.

We come back out and I just hold him. I'm aware that I'm going to hold him like that many times in the days to come. These memories are so painful that it almost makes me scream. 

"Did they send you an owl because you were doing magic?" I ask.

He shakes his head.

"No. James' Dad wrote them that I must have been put under the Cruciatus curse by someone, as his wife had diagnosed it. So it was accepted as a life threatening situation and I was let off the hook."

"I see."

All of these memories, especially the ones during our schooldays will stir other memories, I'm sure. Lots of them. Then I say:

"We should do this systematically now. Start with our early childhood. Whatever we can remember..."

"Yeah. I still remember lots of things."

**Sirius**

That first random memory was hard enough to take, but there would be many a lot worse than that. Cruciatus meant pain and I knew that particular sort of pain well enough before I fled from my parental house, but physical pain is nothing compared to the mental pain and anguish I had to go through in Azkaban.

Our musings are interrupted by a call on Remus' Commumirror. He takes it and Mandy asks us:

"Are you going to be at home over the weekend?"

"Yes, we're leaving here usually right after the last lesson," Remus replies.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Something special going on?" Remus asks with a grin.

"Yep. You'll get to know Jason."

"Ah! Finally! We look forward to that, Mandy!"

"Good! Until then, ta, Moony, Padfoot!"

Mandy's obvious cheerfulness pulls us right out of sombre thoughts. We leave the Pensieves alone and gather the twins to go over to the Great Hall for dinner. For the time being we could still leave the Pensieves on the coffee table, but we plan to remove them soon to put them into a cupboard in our office.

**Friday, 27.11.1998 / James**

I apparate to the Sunnegg together with the 'Carnal Canines'. How I love that nickname! Snape's graced them with it, but I'm only angry it never came to my mind! It fits them so well. They tell me that Mandy's bringing her boyfriend along. So we finally get to know Mr Mysterious. We know his name is Jason Taylor and we know he's a bit older than Mandy and we know he works for Amelia Bones. Otherwise we know nothing. It shows how well Lily and I have integrated ourselves in the Sunnegg-bunch, that we're just as curious as everyone else. 

Dobby is working for a larger dinner. He's glowing of happiness like he does every time he gets an opportunity to show off his cooking skills. The table in the dining area is laid with the finest tablecloth and the nice silverware. The crystal glasses shimmer. 

"Wow - big welcome for the fellow," I remark.

"Looks like it," Sirius confirms.

We're welcomed by Morag and her girlfriend Nicole. Morag tells us that the complete crew plus George, Fred and Angelina is on board. That makes us smile and Remus says:

"That's great. Poor Jason will be overwhelmed, I'm afraid."

"Oh, from how Mandy describes him he'll fit right in."

"Good. - Would you two baby-sit our twins for a while, so we can go and change?" Sirius asks.

"Sure!"

The two men unclasp their cloaks and loosen their slings, then Nicole and Morag grab one of the babies each and keep them until their daddies return. 

"Gosh, they're cute!" Nicole coos.

"They are!"

"What a lucky coincidence that they're two and that they're looking almost like their fathers..."

"Oh, that wasn't a coincidence," Morag explains, "They've used a spell to get the surrogate mother to ovulate and then she was inseminated with first Sirius' and three days later, when the first insemination proved successful, the procedure was repeated with Remus' semen. And in both cases a further spell ensured that the mother's dominant traits would be suppressed."

"Wow. Just like that! And it worked, too!"

"Yeah, it did..."

"That magic is enviable. I can hardly get over it what you guys can do. So these two here will probably have it, too, won't they?"

"It's highly probable," I say, "They've been sired by two fairly powerful people, whose magic is strong. From what I heard their mother is quite a fine witch as well."

The people start to come into the living room and decide to sit down at the table. Harry and Hermione apparate in, greet everyone and rush up to their room to put down their stuff and change. Then Mandy comes in with her boyfriend. Jason is quite tall, blond, has grey eyes and looks like he's a rather friendly person. Mandy introduces him summarily to everyone and then starts introducing everyone to Jason. 

At dinner we all discuss what happened during the past week, politics, Quidditch, what happened at Hogwarts, what happened to our gang and whatever else comes to our minds. Remus tells Hermione:

"...and then this letter came for Siri just a few days ago. An offer for us to write our autobiography to publish in a book! I was shocked and wanted to decline immediately, but he's talked me into accepting..."

"Wow, but that's an amazing opportunity to write about your life, Remus! I think, there's enough that would interest people, even if they're probably going to buy it to read about the infamous ex-convict in the first place. It would give you the quiet possibility to bring a few pointers about werewolves across that people know nothing about."

"I'm still thinking about what and how much I can say, but I'm going to talk about that, of course."

"You should. There's only 'Hairy Snout, Human Heart' out that gives the point of view of a werewolf on how it feels to be one... and that is a bit sappy."

Remus smiles.

"Who says I wouldn't be sappy, too?"

"I don't think you could be. You're very romantic, but I'd never expect someone who's as brilliant at lecturing as you are to become sappy."

I think, Hermione is spot on there. I'm quite interested in how they go about that book. It will certainly occupy their time for a good bit for a while. I turn to Sirius and ask him:

"What's that about writing a book?"

"I've offered. I need to have some sort of an approach of my issues with Azkaban. I'm going to write my memories down, even the dreariest ones, and they should be published. It's going to take the form of an autobiography, but with that I'm trying to exorcise some of those 'ghosts' - excuse my expression, please! - from my mind."

"Does it still haunt you?"

"Not consciously. I'm too busy to be worried by it, too, but you never know. The human mind can do strange things. I'm afraid that it could attack me when I least expect it and if there's a way to get it out of my system I want to find it and do it. I'm quite convinced that this is going to help me. If not, it will still be time to contact a shrink. I told Remus that any sort of a doctor would only be my last resort."

"Is it that bad?"

"I don't know. Not consciously anyway. But I know I'm repressing a lot. There's only so much a mind can bear, so I think if I'm occupying myself with this I could certainly work some things out at least. I'll need a lot of support from my lover though! We're going to place all of those memories in Pensieves and then go in together. This way I can pass some of the horror to Remus and while I'm not too fond of that it will certainly help me to bear to visit those memories."

"I'll be with you all the way, Padfoot! I'd like to be with you two when you visit those memories again. Call on me any time. You shouldn't go through this all alone. Writing it down will be hard enough," I offer.

"I know. An enchanted quill will do the actual writing, but still... I have to dictate."

Looking back I can't but feel guilty. After all, it was because of us that Padfoot went to Azkaban! He wanted to protect us at any price and while we're now dead and ghosts, he's had to live the worst way anyone could have to live! I'm still appalled to think that our dear Padfoot had to go through such a horror. Padfoot, who never really hurt anyone. Okay, so we weren't all too nice to Snape back in school, but heck, he gave us reason enough. Sirius in particular paid him back for everything he got from the brat before he even came to Hogwarts. Technically we were bullying him rather viciously, but he gave as good as he got. And then Sirius stepped back from a duty he would have fulfilled perfectly for fear that he would be able to break. Had Peter been who we thought he was he wouldn't have had to fear much, Sirius would have been the perfect cover! He was ready to die for us! Well, he did, he worse than died somehow and it still pains me that Lily and I have been the cause of his own personal hell. Just to see him here and happy again was worth it to become ghosts. Had we decided to move on we'd have had to watch from somewhere helplessly. I can't even bear that thought. 

"You'll do it, Siri. You'll do just fine, both of you together."

"You could add your part, Prongs!" he says with a grin.

"Oh no! That's about you and Remus! Welcome to the Carnal Canines' lives! Can't wait to read this!"

**Wednesday, 2.12.1998 / Ginny**

I'm waking up early today. We have a test today and even though we've been studying late I'm waking up before the radio starts off. I'm turning to Ernie to get some cuddling before we have to get up. We have a good while to that and we make good use of it. It's good for our nerves. This is the first real test we have since we've started our university courses. We've had a few minor tests, but today's will be a bit larger, it's practically the summarising of the term's syllabus. Christmas break starts earlier at the Academy, we'll be off in ten days for full four weeks. Sure, there will be a lot of stuff to study and read, but still... I'm really looking forward to those four weeks. I'll be able to go and do my Christmas shopping without haste, thus allowing me to find for my loved ones what I think they will like. Mum has already owled and asked when we would want to come to the Burrow, hoping it would be on Christmas day. I think that should be fine, since it's the custom to celebrate on Christmas Eve here. I just want to call her still and ask her to invite Ernie's family. 

Dad has finally been promoted to the new year. He'll move up to be head of the Department of Muggle Relations. It was about time! That means he'll earn about a third more than he did so far. Mum is pretty pleased. She's even invited Justin for the Christmas dinner. 

The radio starts and we get to hear the news, while we get up and move over to the bath. It's free, because Draco and Parvati aren't around right now. Blaise is usually up before us and Padma won't have to be at the Academy before ten. We're through with the bath pretty soon and meet Blaise, Harry and Hermione at breakfast. Morag comes in only moments after us. 

"Good morning!" she says brightly. "Are you ready for your test?"

"Oh, don't remind me..." Blaise mutters.

Ernie grins.

"We've quizzed each other well enough I think, but I don't like tests any better for that. And from Blaise's reaction I take it that he doesn't like them any more either..."

"Say that aloud!" Blaise replies and grins, too. 

I'm sure they'll both do well enough though, we've really worked hard. We've been learning some in depth theory on spell structures, so this is an entirely theoretical test. We did have a certain advantage on our classmates, because Remus made us work on basic spell structures in sixth year when we did the spell development for our projects. It came in handy that we've already worked some of this out in arithmantic tables. Oh yes, studying Charms means studying Arithmancy as well. In fact, spell structures are solved mostly in arithmantic tables. 

We discuss some last minute stuff during breakfast, then we brace ourselves and apparate to the Academy. The morning is going to be a long one. Ernie and Blaise sit down on either side of me and we get our test parchments. Four hours straight through. 

We finish the test just around noon, then most of us decide to go outside to eat lunch. Since the Academy isn't far from the Leaky Cauldron we decide to go out and have some Chinese food somewhere on Shaftesbury Avenue. Pretty soon six or seven of us have squeezed into a smallish restaurant and ordered today's menu. It's quite good even and we happily chat during the meal. 

In the afternoon we have no lectures, so I decide to go and see how Mum does and apparate to the Burrow. Ernie is still in town to do some early Christmas shopping. I apparate directly into the kitchen.

"Mum?" I call and walk over to the living room.

"Hi Ginny!" she greets me brightly.

She's reading a letter and holds it out to me, beaming.

"It's from Bill, Ginny, he's finally got together with Fleur Delacour! After all these years they have known each other, I didn't want to believe it!"

"Oh, that's nice! She's really a fine girl. At least he always sounded more than interested in her."

"He's writing that he's just been held back by his fear that the part in her which is Veela would just lure him into a trap. But he's convinced of her sincerity now. I can't believe it, my big boy has finally found himself a bride!"

"What! They want to get married?" I ask, astounded.

"Read the letter! I'm sure he won't mind!"

I read through the letter:

"Dear Mum and Dad,

it's been a great half year since I've been stationed with the French Ministry Aurors and I've met a young lady again, that I've learned to know three years ago when I went to Hogwarts with Mum to watch Harry perform in his third task of the Triwizard Tournament. Fleur Delacour and I have been in a loose friendship exchanging a fair amount of letters and I sought her out when I came to Paris. 

Well, I've been interested in her from the beginning. She's a very beautiful girl and she's given me a bit of an eye from the beginning, only she's part Veela, so I was being more than careful. I know how you can be lured into the charm of a Veela and she's got that charm - in addition to her looks! So I was rather held back, accepted the friendship she also offered and exchanged many letters with her. While I was in London she asked me some advice on curse breaking for her Advanced Charms studies, which I gladly gave. When I got here I sent her another owl and wanted to meet. We hit off soon after and now I can tell you both the happy news that you will finally have a daughter-in-law soon, as we have decided to step up our relationship and get married next spring.

I'll see you both at Christmas, when I'd like to bring Fleur along to introduce her properly. We'll spend Christmas Eve with her family, as Christmas is rather celebrated on the 24th December here in France.

With all my love

Bill"

Wow! My cool big brother is getting married! Oh, this will be so nice, I'm finally getting a sister!

"That's cool, Mum! I really think, Bill just wanted to wait for the real thing, don't you agree?"

She nods, happily, then smiles.

"And they're coming for Christmas! This is so nice! We'll have the house really full!"

"Do you need to enlarge something?"

"Oh, for sure! We need a lot of space for the table and in the living room. But Arthur is pretty good at that, believe me, so you needn't worry, dear! Everyone will be at home, Charlie is coming over from Romania as well."

"Do you think, he'll stay there forever, Mum?" I ask.

"It looks like it. Though he's unattached as of yet. Says the kind of flings he has aren't worth being taken home... he'll tease Bill terribly!"

I grin. Oh, he won't be the only one to tease our Bill. I'm sure the twins will be relentless.

"You can ask me for help for anything, Mum, we're off from the end of next week. They give us a four weeks break!"

"Wow! That's gracious!"

"We'll get a fair amount of reading to do, don't worry. But that still leaves us loads of time. How's Daddy doing?"

"Oh, he's fine! We're a bit under the empty nest feeling... we miss all the activity, but we've started to miss that from the day you went to Hogwarts. Only now you're all adults and it's yet another step. But with Bill and Fleur married I'm hoping for some grandchildren!"

I have to grin. 

"We're all still a bit young to have children. What about Percy and Penelope?"

"I don't know. It seems they've drifted apart for a while now. I don't think they'll ever get married. It's a shame, she's done wonders for Percy!"

"Which is a wonder, seeing as he's such a prat sometimes. Intelligence alone isn't everything. He's an idiot if he lets her slip away. Penny is great!"

Mum gets up and moves to the kitchen.

"Would you like some tea?" she asks over her shoulder.

I follow her over and nod. While she starts the kettle I get the dishes out of the cupboard and search her tin boxes for some biscuits. It doesn't take me two minutes to find my favourite ginger biscuits, which I set out on a small plate. Even after more than three years I spent away from home I know my Mum's kitchen and find my way. She finishes the tea and pours us two cups. We've hardly sat down on the table when we hear the typical apparition plop. It's Angelina. Mum smiles and welcomes her:

"Hello, dear! How are you?"

"Hi, Molly! Hi, Ginny! What are you doing here? - I'm fine, Molly, but I need someone to hear what I have to relate! Fred and George are busy in their laboratory, so I'm not crazy enough to disturb them there, but I just have to tell someone!!!"

She lets Molly summon another mug for her and picks up some biscuits, then she looks at Mum and says, obviously beaming:

"Molly, I've been to see a mediwitch today, because I thought I was ill, but I'm not. Or at least it's only for a while. I've just found out that I'm pregnant!"

Wow again! What a day! First Bill who gets married, now Fred and Angelina will have a baby! Mum looks at her, flabbergasted. I think that was definitely not what she's expected. She does smile at Angelina and hug her, but then she asks:

"So when are you going to get married?"

"We'll see. Fred and I don't want a big wedding anyway, we'd just like to have someone marry us and that's it. It's just a formality for the two of us anyway. The baby is important though! I'm really pleased, even though it means that in about three months I'll have to stop flying. But I'll keep my spot on the Harpies team, I've asked a while ago. Oh, Molly, I'm so happy! It's going to be born at the end of July or the beginning of August next year."

Her cheerfulness is contagious and Mum starts to look past the not-wedding and look forward to her first grandchild. 

"That's wonderful, Angelina! Are you sure you shouldn't stop playing Quidditch earlier on? What if you're hit by a Bludger?"

I get up and hug Angelina, too. It's great to be an auntie, I just know it. I already know how it feels to have a baby around and I really love my godchild, so I'm just happy for Angelina.

"That's great, 'Lina, you'll love being a Mum! And I'll love having you as a sister and becoming an auntie!"

"Thanks, Ginny! I just had to tell someone or I would have burst! Now I'll have to wait until tonight when I can tell Fred! He'll be so proud."

She clearly looks like she's planned it and wanted it. When I leave the Burrow for the Sunnegg three hours later I've seen Dad and Mum told him about the two events that await us in the family. He just started to beam even more than Mum! I think he just loves to see the family grow.

"Well, I have to go now, dears. Wish me luck on that test today, I think it went well, but you never know."

When I reach the Sunnegg I'm happy to tell the others the good news that I've heard.

"Oh good, that will take your Mum's attention away from Ron and Justin," Draco remarks.

We all laugh, but he's right of course. Mum will have a wedding and a growing grandchild to focus on, so she'll probably finally get over the fact that Ron's gay. 

**Saturday, 5.12.1998 / Ron**

Quidditch today! Since most of the gang and our former teachers favour the Harpies we're usually seeing their matches, but today they're up against the Chudley Cannons, so I'm happy, too. It's a home game for the Harpies. For once the whole gang is around, Remus and Sirius even have the little ones in their slings with them. They're not exactly sleeping much this afternoon, but no one really cares, they'll go to sleep eventually, in spite of the noise. Fred and George have left their shops to their assistants and have joined us as well. Fred beams of course, he's so proud and happy that he'll be a father soon. He watches Sirius and Remus constantly and even holds the twins for a while. And of course he's looking out for Angelina out on her broom. 

We don't really expect a long game, the Cannons are at least ten places behind the Harpies in the League, so everyone thinks the Harpies would win this in less than an hour. It takes them two and a half hours actually, a fact that makes me happy enough. I haven't been able to see that many games of the Cannons, especially since we've always been at Hogwarts during the season. So I'm enjoying this regardless of the Harpies' easy win. 

We see Angelina after the game and congratulate her, for the game won and of course for the baby. She looks radiant. It seems that the training is doing her a lot of good, she'll have a healthy and probably easy pregnancy. She tells us that for the training the Beaters are called off using Bludgers on her. So it's only the games. She'll keep it a secret to the outside though and take the risk until the end of her fourteenth or fifteenth week at least. 

"From then on I will leave my spot to Alicia and remain on the team as a reserve. Christine has announced that she'd like to reduce her first spot and share it with Alicia after my baby will be born. So for the next season I'll be back full time and Alicia will be on the team sharing the first spot with Christine. Right now I'm so happy I could embrace the whole world!"

Remus smiles.

"You look it, Angelina! It's nice to see you so radiant!"

After the meet and greet in the changing rooms we return to the Sunnegg where some of us are going out to dance. Justin and I enjoy a nice evening dancing with each other and come home really horny! We'll have a more quiet two weeks ahead with mostly theory and only one or two hours a day of physical training. So for once we'll probably be less tired. Though we have improved a lot, both of us. The constant training has steeled our bodies a bit already. We've been running and working out for four hours every day for the past three months and it shows. Justin looks great and he gets a lot of looks from the women around us. Most of them look very displeased to see he's obviously here with me. I can't say that this makes me feel angry! Actually I find it very amusing, because I know who will come home with me soon and who will do very naughty things with my body then! The next slow we use to snog and warm up a bit. Just a short while longer and we'll say goodbye to the others and apparate home from the men's toilets. We go there separately and meet again in our room at the Sunnegg. Mmm, he's nicely hard and aroused already!

It doesn't take us long to shed our clothes and 'attack' each other with kisses, nips and strokes. We take our time to caress each other, kiss hungrily and get really hot. I'm already close to coming when we finally find our way to the bed and lie down. And for the first round it doesn't take us more than a few minutes to come. Only then we start to take our time and go more slowly.


	7. Christmas vacation, sinister memories

**Friday, 18.12.1998 / Sirius**

Yay, all the Christmas shopping and planning done, we're ready to apparate to the Sunnegg as soon as classes are over at noon. The students are let off at noon today, so we don't even linger for lunch. I have only four lessons while Remus has five, so I'm packing what we want to take back to Switzerland and I'm getting Seraina and Denny ready for the trip home. School will resume on January fourth, so we have a good sized Christmas vacation of more than two weeks. I need it, badly, to be honest, because I'm quite exhausted. I can't wait for the school year to end and then change to Transfiguration for only the fifth, sixth and seventh years. I haven't heard if they have found the second set of teachers yet, but I'm not in a hurry and I'll see when the time comes...

Right now I'm packing some clothes for the twins and my briefcase, pick up Remus' laptop and get everything ready. The twins are on the carpet, both starting to crawl, which distracts them wonderfully from teething! It's just too much fun to watch them right now, they are amusing us with their competition of who's getting on the easiest and the fastest. If we help them, they already start to pull themselves up. Grabbing my fingers, Denny easily pulls himself into a sitting and then a standing position. He's cute now. His eyes are more blue than grey, but otherwise everyone thinks he's my spitting image. His hair is now fully black and has grown out a bit. He pulls on my fingers.

"Aren't you the big boy, Denny! Do you want to stand?" I ask.

He gurgles something and looks up to me, then smiles and finally, when I lift my hands a bit and he follows, he laughs, because he's standing on his little feet. A squeal tells me of his pride that he's managed that step. He still holds on to my fingers. 

"You don't let go yet, little one, you're still much too small!" I warn him.

He drops back on his little nappy clad bum and turns around to crawl to his sister who has watched with her head tilted a bit. 

"Hey, Seraina! What about you, my love? Are you going to do the same little trick or will you let Denny get away with it on his own?"

I'm getting a flash of a smile from her, then she just squeals, turns from her sitting position and crawls to me quickly. She's just so charming with that lovely smile of hers! If Denny is my spitting image then the charm certainly helped that Seraina is Remus' copy. She has a lot of little light brown ringlets that start to grow into curls all around her head and her eyes are a beautiful hazel, mostly brown, but with those moss green flecks inside that give them so much depth. Her mouth is finely curved, just like her Papa's, and the little nose starts to look a lot like Remus', too. She grabs onto my robes and pulls herself up, holding on to the fabric with her tiny hands. She smiles at me again. At that moment, Remus enters the flat. She turns her head in his direction and squeals in delight. She drops back onto the carpet and starts to crawl to Remus, who looks down and coos:

"Who have we got here then? A little creepy-crawly? A little Seraina girl? Come to Papa, love! - You're doing that very nicely, Seraina! Here you are!"

Remus has dropped his briefcase and lifts Seraina up to kiss her. Denny is already on his way to Remus as well and wails to be lifted up also. Remus quickly plants a kiss on Seraina's cheeks, then sets her down to greet Denny as well.

"Are we going back home with you two?" Remus asks.

"Their first Christmas, love! I'm looking forward to it so much!"

"Me too. Let's get ready and go."

"We are ready, we're just waiting for you, sweetheart. I've packed all the gifts in that bag. Everything made small, of course..."

"Good. Just let me pick up my own stuff..."

Once Remus has prepared a bag with his own things he wants to take along we both lift up one of the twins and put them into the slings. They are still very comfortable in the slings, at least for what short times they have to be inside of them. If we need to carry them for longer periods of time we have something like a carrier for the back, where they can sit inside and we wear it like a backpack. We pick up our brooms and start for the Entrance Hall and the main door. Many of the students pass and greet us and we wish them all Merry Christmas. 

A short broom ride later we reach the gates and apparate back home. We're greeted by a living room that's already been decorated very festively. There's the big tree, covered with candles and lots of tinsel and baubles of all colours. The walls and railings have been covered with fir twigs bound around by red and gold ribbons. There are more fir twigs on the tables, adorned with red and gold candles. 

"Wow, you've all done lovely work!"

Hermione comes around the corner from the kitchen and grins.

"And of course it's all charmed not to loose needles and not to wither before we throw it out! Nicole was tempted to ask us to do the same thing for her. We couldn't, of course, and she knows."

**Saturday, 19.12.1998 / Hermione**

It's quite true and we've had a load of fun doing it. Everyone helped and our wands have been busy. Ginny, Ernie and Blaise have been able to add a few extra spells they know fresh from their studies. It's great to have most of the family together. We all reserved Christmas Eve for the celebration with the gang and most of us will be visiting our families at home for Christmas day. 

Dobby and Winky are happily working together in the kitchen to clear everything from lunch. I'm going over to look for a book in Remus' collection when I see a roll of parchment on the living room table. I pick it up and notice it's a first draft for the beginning of Remus' memoirs. His writing is very neat, even for some early draft. I sit down and read it. If he wanted it to remain a secret then he wouldn't have left it on the coffee table in the living room. 

I was born on the 5th September 1959. A very normal son of very normal parents. My mother worked as a healer and my father was an official working for the Ministry. There was nothing unusual about me, unless one counts my curiosity for anything that contained information, my ability to read at the very early age of three. Nothing unusual at all until one summer evening before my fifth birthday. 

A clear evening, our home near a forest, warm summer weather and a lust to run over the nearby pastures and enjoy myself had kept me outside very late. I had heard my parents call me inside and I knew they would be scolding me for not listening, but everything was so peaceful and beautiful. Soon the sun would be setting and the moon would be rising and I wanted to see the stars twinkling in the sky. On the edge of the forest, not very far from our house I sat down to look up. Night was falling and I was hidden in the high grass. My parents had stopped calling me for a while, but were now on their way to find me. Just when I was ready to get up and show myself I heard a growl behind me. A huge beast pounced, attacked me, bit me and all I remember is that I screamed. Everything went so fast I couldn't even recognise what the beast had been.

I was told what had had happened a day later, when I finally woke up again. My father was sitting next to my bed and I felt pain throughout my body, but worst of all in my left shoulder. As tenderly as he could my father explained to me that I had been attacked by a wolf. Not a common wolf - a werewolf! I had only heard about those monsters once or twice before. And then I learned that this attack on me meant that I had been cursed to be a werewolf myself. I probably cried for days when I was told I would be transforming into such a wolf on the full moon night every month for the rest of my life. 

I changed. Quickly. I had been a cheerful child, my parents told me later that I had been humming and smiling all day long. That was all gone from the moment I felt the wolf inside. I could not accept it. I didn't want to believe it, but I felt it inside of me. It made me angry, impatient, grumpy most of the time. I withdrew completely; no more playing with friends from the village further away down the road. They had heard what had happened to me and didn't want to play with a werewolf. 

Other changes involved my senses. On the very day I had awoken in St. Mungo's I had been able to smell much more intensively, my hearing seemed to have been enhanced and at night I started to see much better. 

Then the first full moon night after the attack came. My father had prepared a room in the cellar for me to be locked inside. He didn't know what to expect, but for days while the moon was waxing they held me on their laps, told me it would not be nice, but that I had to be strong and that they would always love me, no matter what I was.

I did not want to cry and make them sad. When they said that it was time I held my head up and went into that room. My father locked it after me and I heard them murmur soothing words. When the pain came I lost my mind and knew nothing anymore. In fact, I knew nothing anymore for two days, during which my mother healed all my broken bones and the gashes from my teeth and claws. I didn't understand what had happened, but I soon learned, that every month I would be in pain like this for almost a week. 

Two months later we had moved. Another little house, neat and friendly, away from a village. My mother stopped working full time to stay with me. She taught me at home, trained me and conditioned me to become an overly controlled child. I learned to keep the wolf at bay and she told me I was only allowed to let it out on the night of the full moon. Both my parents did everything, researched, travelled and tried to find a cure, but there was nothing to be found. The first year after the attack they took me to countless healers or even charlatans, all with the faint hope that there would be something that could help me.

In the new house there was another cellar. My father did his very best to make it bearable, it was warm, he used cushioning charms on every wall, the floor and even the ceiling, but the wolf was strong. Every full moon night I would throw myself against the walls, the doors, I'd bite and scratch myself and when the night was over my clothes were torn and I was lying on the floor, usually in a pool of my own blood. My parents made me undress before the transformation started to spare my clothes, but that meant they took me out of the pool of blood naked. 

The only bright memories I have of those years right after I was bitten were the times we spent in my mother's home country, Switzerland. It seems that werewolf prejudices there were reserved for a much smaller group of people and the fairly numerous family on my mother's side didn't hold their noses up, they took me the way I was. Except for short summer vacations we lived there so I could attend Muggle school. To cover up my monthly absences they told the school authorities that I suffered from a recurring disease which came with the full moon and that I would therefore miss some classes. It was quite amazing how easily that was bought. Every month I stayed home for the full moon night and returned to school after two days when Mum would have healed all my wounds and glamoured the bruises that would possibly still be visible. I started school a year early for Switzerland, with six, but I had not been sent to the nursery school there and the school's doctor checked me and declared I was fit enough to attend. My parents were happy that I was allowed to go to school and I was thrilled. I actually went there with two cousins who were around the same age. One of them was a squib, the other would go to Beauxbatons later like most of my mother's family had. Mum for some reason had received the Hogwarts letter. 

I loved to go to school. Maybe that came with my mother teaching me for the year before I was starting. I had been so lonely without any friends. Now I at least went to school, but of course I didn't push for close friends, I only stayed close to my cousins who knew that I was a werewolf. I could sense more pity coming from them than distrust, that wasn't much better, but at least they tried to conceal it. So I wasn't as lonely as before, but going home from school meant going back to most of my isolation. I consoled myself with excessive reading. My father was working in the Department of Mysteries and did a lot of research. His library was very eclectic with books covering a multitude of subjects. Many of them of course treated things that were mysterious, even for the wizarding world. My mother as a healer had a large amount of books about healing, about the human body in general and both of them loved to read novels, too, so I really had quite the choice of books. They also gave me a lot of them for every occasion. 

For years I only knew that I transformed into a raging monster through the tales of my parents. In the late summer before I was turning ten I finally got the first real feel of the wolf. I had been late to come back inside and my parents were frantic, but then I felt the pull of the moon and they had to lock themselves inside and pray that I would not find my way into the village. They had reconstructed my nightly adventure the next day, when they found me not too far away from home in the forest. Luckily I had stayed inside of the forest and luckily we were in England for that full moon, where we had much more space and the huge forest. The young wolf had been afraid of the village and even though it most probably had the scent of the humans in its nose it stayed in the woods where it ran for hours. Much to my parents' relief no one had taken notice of the werewolf in their neighbourhood. Every discovery would mean that we would have to move somewhere else. But this first full moon night spent outside had woken a more conscious realisation of the wolf in me. I had felt the power of the muscles and had probably run for hours and many miles. There were almost no wounds. It was clear to me that the beast needed its freedom, but I knew it couldn't have it. 

Mum and Dad were amazed to find me in the late morning, naked, quite deep inside of the forest, but clear of wounds save a few scratches from the brambles. They both realised the same thing I had very quickly and it was with even more sadness that they took care I was inside the next full moon.

Many people would tell my parents to have me 'put down' in the course of the years. My parents would have none of it though. Patiently my mother continued to home school me in addition to the Muggle school and before I was ten I was reading most of the time. I had learned to meditate and had been trained in yoga, so that I could calm myself when I felt the wolf lift its head up too high inside of me. I loathed this beast and I hated the knowledge of what it could do. I knew what the people talked about werewolves early on, some of them had treated me like I had been a killer even as a small child. It seemed that apart from my parents who loved me no one would want to see my efforts to keep the wolf locked up and to be as human as I could be with this affliction. In the best case I was mocked, in the worst people chased me away throwing stones after me. 

All this time I knew that the curse was to be blamed. I was cursed so I deserved their distrust. It made me incredibly sad. I never understood why it had to be me, what I had done to deserve this. To be treated so badly by the humans and to have to go through that unbearable amount of pain every time the full moon rose over the horizon. 

My parents both loved me, but they carefully started to prepare me for a very lonesome life. They taught me but they let me know that I would not, like all other magical children, be allowed a magical education and possibly I would not even be allowed my own wand legally when I grew up. I believed them easily. We had been shunned and chased away once too often to not see it. I distrusted anyone but my parents. When we were in England I was afraid of the other children, was deathly scared of other adults. Even in Switzerland I didn't get close with my schoolmates. My only consolation were my books and the forest. When I roamed the forests during the day I felt at home and safe from everything. 

And then came a day in the early summer before my twelfth birthday. We were in our house in England. When I got home for tea I found a visitor in the parlour talking with my mother. Instantly I was shy and withdrew, but Mum called me inside and put her hands firmly on my shoulders.

"This is Remus, Professor Dumbledore."

The Professor Dumbledore looked down on me and I saw smiling eyes that looked me over with interest over half-moon glasses. He was a very old man with long grey hair and a long beard. He seemed to be tall, even seated. His outfit was colourful and he looked like a very powerful wizard.

"So you are Remus. I'm pleased to meet you, young Mr. Lupin!"

I held out my hand and said:

"I'm pleased to meet you, Professor."

"And what a polite young gentlemen you are. - You are certainly wondering who this old codger is, aren't you?"

"I don't know..." 

I felt very insecure, but Mum was smiling and she still held on to my shoulders, so I wasn't afraid. He then proceeded to tell me that he was the headmaster of Hogwarts. Of course I knew about Hogwarts, even if I had been warned that I would never see it. So what did the old man want here? 

"Would you like to start your education at Hogwarts this fall?" he asked.

I was shocked to the bones. I looked at Mum, unable to say anything, with my mouth open and when she nodded I finally nodded eagerly myself.

"But... but I'm a werewolf..." I finally stammered. 

"Yes, Remus, I know about your affliction, but we have already been thinking about something that will keep your schoolmates safe when you have to transform. Apart from that our school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, will be taking care of you. All the teachers will know about you, but no student will be informed. I heard you have an excellent mind, young Remus, and I'd think it would be a waste for such talent if it wasn't educated. Do you not agree?"

Again there was that twinkle in his eyes. I looked from him to Mum and finally she said:

"If you want to go to Hogwarts, Remus, then you shall go!"

Of course I wanted to go. In the next weeks my parents started to tell me all about Hogwarts they had kept for themselves because they had believed I would never be admitted. For the first time in my life I was taken to the Diagon Alley to buy my school equipment and my wand. I got fitted with the school robes before my parents took me to Ollivander's to find my wand. This was probably the most impressive event in my life after the bite. Stepping into the dark little shop and being greeted by a very creepy old Mr. Ollivander made me feel very little. A shop that looked so tiny but didn't seem to have an end on top. Or maybe it was because I was still so small. In any case from the way Mr. Ollivander looked me over I felt that he knew what I was and might not agree that a Dark Creature should be entrusted with a wand of its own. But if he did he let nothing on. I was welcomed warmly, measured and fussed over. Then I got wand after wand to try and none responded. I was deathly afraid that there would be no wand for me. But all the wands I had been given had contained either phoenix feathers or dragon heartstrings. After about an hour or two Mr. Ollivander turned from them and gave me several wands with unicorn hairs. It took a dozen of them until the right one was finally found. A beech wand with a unicorn hair brought forth a shower of sparks. I was probably not the only one who was relieved, but I'll never forget what Mr. Ollivander had to say as a comment:

"Curious, curious! Innocence is not reserved for humans alone. You must be meant for good deeds, my boy, because the hair in your wand comes from a unicorn that was a day old foal. The wand chooses the wizard and if this wand has chosen you, I can only expect you to bring innocence and friendship to those who will cross your path. This is a wand that gains its power from the pureness of the forest and its most innocent inhabitant. They can both be ruthless if they see no other way, so anyone who shall become your enemy must beware themselves." 

It looks like a draft, but wow, good beginning. I'm putting the roll down and advance to the study, where I find the book I'm looking for soon after. When I'm leaving the study, Remus comes in. He has Denny on his arm and picks up the scroll. I nod at it and say:

"I've allowed myself to read it, Remus."

"Oh. And?"

"You'll always be an innocent, you know! It's nice."

He smiles. 

"Not so sure about that anymore, but it was certainly true when I was such a young child. I need to flesh the whole thing out still. It's just a quick overview about my childhood, but I think I have some bits to fill in about how I felt when I first transformed, especially after the transformations."

"I thought it was pretty good for a draft. You could certainly make it more detailed."

"Oh, I will. Basically I'm going through most from memory, then I'll go through all those bits I can't consciously get back and will extract them to the Pensieve. I'm afraid of writing about some of those though. Also I've left out most of my Swiss relations yet. There will be some more about that, and at least that part is a bit less dreary."

Thinking of the horrors he's seen and gone through that's not difficult to guess. Remembering that he only had his parents to rely on when they were in England I'm glad he reminds me of his other heritage and that he's been happier here. 

"I'll gladly read more! And I know that I'll certainly read the book once it's done and out!"

"If ever! It seems a long task. But it's going to be great, because we'll have so much more time next year. Right now we have 37 lessons each week. No wonder we're both very tired. Next year it will be reduced to 18. One double and one single lesson per class and still two houses together. We switch to Gryffindor/Ravenclaw and Slytherin/Hufflepuff next year."

"That's your workload reduced by a half! Sounds reasonable though," I say.

"Oh, it's going to be almost like working with you guys here! Much better! Sirius will be glad, he's almost breaking down right now. He'll be very glad when June comes around!"

Remus lets Denny down on the carpet, and the little one pulls himself up on Remus' robes immediately. That's new to me! 

"He can get up! Wow!"

Remus grins.

"They're getting up, yes. We have to take everything out of their reach now, so when they're around, put anything dangerous out of their reach, that's anything with a point, that cuts, wands especially etc. Take his hands and see what else he does!"

I do so, offer my godson my fingers and he grabs them and shows me how he can make his first guided steps. He beams, too, the little man! It's such a great progress since I've seen him last week. I lift him on my arms and kiss his cheeks.

"Well done, junior! You're growing so fast!"

**Remus**

That they do. They're eight months old now and both start to crawl, if we hold them by their hands they can walk a few steps. But there are new things to observe every day. The teething still takes place, but the worst seems over and they cry a bit less because of their teeth. 

I watch Hermione flirt with her baby godson and think of Sirius back with Harry. He used to cuddle with Harry so often and he loved it. So did I of course. We were both very sentimental over it actually. Blame our homosexuality for that maudlin part in us. But I do notice that we're both a lot more pragmatic with Denny and Seraina. I wonder if the difference lies in the fact that they're our own children? Oh we love cuddling with them just like we did with Harry, only we have to do all the 'work' and there's that parental bit, so all in all we have to stay on the ground. I'm amazed that this is not too difficult and came completely naturally. The responsibilities that come with the parentage are no heavy burdens. We know that some of our interaction with our growing children will be hard, we'll have to say 'no' fairly often and it already starts! The difficulties will probably begin when they start to react to our 'no' and not obey. We're already starting to develop 'strategies' for those situations. How far can we go to keep our promise to never punish them physically? So far we've come up with sleep charms for extreme cases and just basically sending them to their rooms for lesser offences.

I know that Sirius is a bit scared about that part. He's been subjected to so much domestic violence and ridicule, so much verbal abuse and he was exposed to such a cold family. He loves the children, but he fears his reactions when they start to irritate him. He's working hard on that though. It's so difficult to be a good parent when you didn't have a good example in your own childhood. Sirius had the worst possible example! Having been put under an Unforgivable for the first time by the age of eight years does not make for a good basis. So he'll probably struggle a bit, but he does it consciously, he knows where the problems are and he asks for advice and help. 

Just one more reason why I love him so much.

**Friday, 25.12.1998 / Sirius**

Suddenly the house is huge! Everyone left to spend Christmas with their families. Ginny, Ron, Ernie and Justin have left for the Burrow. They will have a huge party there. Arthur and Molly have invited us, too, but we've excused ourselves. This is the first Christmas with our children and we want to spend it with them alone. We've had the gifts yesterday, but we'll light the candles on the tree again tonight. 

Parvati, Padma, Blaise and Draco have gone to the Patils. Mandy spends Christmas with Jason, Morag is at her parents' house, Hermione and Harry have apparated to Helen and George. We spend the day in the front room and the small living room. Only James and Lily are still with us. It's wonderfully cosy and there's lots of cuddling going on between Remus and I - and our children. Seraina and Dennis are really cute now, alert babies, always turning around and looking for those who are around them. They smile and laugh a lot. They crawl around for a bit, but they still tire pretty quickly. And with regularity they bump into something, which changes their smiles to wails fairly fast. But this is part of growing and we can only console them by picking them up and giving them a comforting hug. As soon as they stop wailing they usually want to return and continue exploring. Tears forgotten in seconds flat! It's fun to see how they are trying to pull themselves up in a standing position on anything they can latch on to. They can drop back on their little arses for a dozen times, but they're so determined to continue! We encourage that determination to build up their confidence.

Moony and I have both brought our Pensieves. We've set them down on one of the higher shelves in the study. And the door to the study remains mostly closed these days, because there are a lot of books on the lowest shelves. We would like to have some peace and not hear our children crawling in there and pulling out book after book. We've started to remove everything we have in reachable distance and put things higher up. They have their toys to pick up and grab and that will have to do for the moment. But of course we have already gathered quite the little collection of baby and children's books and we have already started to show them the picture books.

**Saturday, 26.12.1998 / Sirius**

I have the Pensieve out and I'm trying the spell again to pick memories randomly and from my subconscious. I know that's where I've hidden most of the bad things. I watch as the Pensieve is filled with strand after strand of my dark times. I'm thinking back on my life. I'm 39 now, and out of these 39 years I've had roughly thirteen that could really be called a 'life'. The rest was starting out with abuse, then followed war, then prison, then being on the run. 

"Does it only appear to me or is what's in there darker than dark?" Lily asks all of a sudden.

She's come into the study through the closed door. I need to keep this far away from my children. I look up to her and say:

"Dare to look at it?"

"I think you shouldn't go in there alone, Sirius! Do you know what you caught?"

I shake my head.

"It's out of my subconscious. It can be anything from my childhood or from Azkaban, on the run, Hogwarts... I have no idea."

"I don't know if I can come with you, but I'll try."

"Thanks, Lily! But I think I need Remus as well, he needs to pull me out, just in case."

"I'll call him!"

Once Remus is there, too, James comes in as well. The twins are napping and he's asked Winky to be on the lookout for them when they wake up. The four of us look at the dark grey mass swirling in the Pensieve. Finally we all touch it and find ourselves in my memories. Remus holds my hand tightly and James and Lily frame us both. 

>> Azkaban. A random day, but I recognise it as one of those in the early years when I felt the Dementors the worst. The cell is about three times two metres. There's a cot, but it's only covered with straw and a thin blanket. A window with a grid of bars that hardly leaves enough space to push a hand through. View outside to the barren island. Everlasting clouds and fogs around it. The window is small and lets in very little light. It's icy cold. Seeing the memory I'm freezing again. It's the cold that never left my body. I can see myself in the corner that was the least cold, next to the door. My clothes are still the ones I wore when they took me here. They have started to disintegrate though and I can see that the robes are threadbare. My cloak had been taken away. 

**Lily**

>> The memory could have been a Muggle photo, one of those black and white ones with a few colours added by hand, nothing moved. Sirius is sitting in the shadow, occasionally throwing a glance out of the tiny window. But from the floor he can't see anything but the clouds. There's a sigh, then he swallows and finally he lifts a wrist to his mouth and starts chewing. I'm a ghost, but it makes my skin crawl when I realise he's trying to commit suicide. He actually gets the blood to flow, but he's so cold it doesn't seem to really spill. Another bite, then the other hand, and ten minutes later the door opens and two Dementors glide inside and heal the wrists. Sirius slumps on the floor, shaking and crying. I feel my own tears welling and try to imagine what it must have been like in there, day after day, for almost twelve years! The Sirius in the cell finally crawls to the cot and breaks down, still silently weeping. He looks appalling: the clothes hang around his emaciated body in rags. His hair hangs in long greasy strands, a tangled mass of filth. There's nothing he can do. All he does is sitting and crawling around. Then he starts to tremble and shake and we guess it's the time when the Dementors are coming. Finally he morphs from Sirius into Padfoot, who stops weeping, but whines in a very low voice. Gods, it's too painful to watch. 

When I think I can't stand it any longer the memory shifts. All of a sudden we're back at Hogwarts, but it's still dark, in fact it's night and Peter and Sirius follow James out of the common room. It seems to be winter, because all three wear thick winter clothes and cloaks. They are leaving the castle and go down to the Whomping Willow. The moon above tells me it must be one of the full moon nights they spent with Remus in their Animagus forms. Peter stills the tree and all three climb inside of the passage. They follow the long passage already in their animal forms. Padfoot is able to push open the door to let Prongs and Wormtail inside. Remus has not fully transformed yet. I've never seen it before and it hurts just to watch! I glance over to Remus and see him closing his eyes. It's hard for himself to watch, too. But once the wolf is up on his legs he joins the 'pack', sniffs them all and establishes the fact that they're indeed his pack. After a while they leave the shack through the passage, again Peter stills the Willow to let his friends out. Prongs and Padfoot nudge Moony in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. They race there and then they race inside the forest, wrestling, howling and playing madly under the moon.

Another shift to another memory. Azkaban again. Sirius is looking a bit better in this one, though already quite shaken by the year he must have been inside the prison. Chains are to be heard, a creaking door and then the mad screams of a woman, guided inside by three dementors. Sirius looks up and goes to the heavy wooden door with the small barred window to see what is happening. He recognises the woman who seems to be a new prisoner. A dry laugh escapes his lips. Bellatrix! His cousin Bellatrix Lestrange and three more new prisoners. I recognise her husband Rodolphus and his older brother Rabastan. The fourth I have more difficulties to recognise. He looks so young! Then I remember the proud young Ravenclaw and his name comes back to me: Bartemius Crouch. Barty Crouch's son! A Death Eater? 

I look at Sirius who just shrugs. 'Later', he mouths. I nod.

>>Bellatrix recognises Sirius standing there, as calmly as he can in the presence of the Dementors and shrieks:

"HA! There you are, cousin! Not so haughty anymore, eh?"

Sirius doesn't reply. He just stares after his cousin and watches as she's dragged into a cell about four doors down the corridor on the other side. The three other prisoners are all spread over more cells, outside of Sirius' view. He sighs and returns to the cot, where he sits down and transforms, obviously glad that there are no cells opposite each other that would allow anyone to look inside of his cell. The memory fades.

**James**

When I think that I can't bear anymore, the memory fades and another one comes up. It's just as painful, even though it's one of Sirius' childhood memories. A very early one, he certainly wouldn't remember it consciously anymore, because he can't have been older than three.

>>Three children are playing in the Drawing Room at No 12, Grimmauld Place. It's Sirius and his cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa, who's two years older than the others and seems to have taken the lead in their games. Sirius grins and hops on his baby broom to get out of the room, Bellatrix following behind him. Narcissa gives a shriek and shouts at them:

"You're not supposed to fly in here! Just you wait until Auntie comes in and sees you!"

Which happens just five minutes later, but Bellatrix manages to be on the ground and make a straight face, knowing full well that her sister wouldn't give her away. Sirius tries to hop off the broom in time, but misses the timing and soon has to endure his mother's wrath. He's sent to his room without his broom. We watch him slink up the staircase to his floor and then into his room, which is quite big but dark. He grumbles and starts to play with something else. The memory fades again. 

All of a sudden we're at Hogwarts. I can see the four of us walking down the last set of stairs to the Entrance Hall. We're all in fifth year, just after we've managed the initial transformation. It's after the Christmas vacation, after Remus and Sirius had fixed their friendship. I know that by that time Sirius was already deeply in love with Remus. They had talked things through, too, but had kept them a secret, for the obvious reason that Sirius' parents would have been outraged. I remember that incident now. In just a moment, Regulus would turn up. Two years younger than Sirius and in Slytherin, he was almost as bad as Snivellus in following us around. There he is. Looking us over with disgust. Immediately he starts to taunt Sirius:

"Hope you've had a good shag with your boyfriend, Sirius! How about I tell Mum and Dad about your little fuck buddy? They should be so pleased that you intend to give them no heir!"

Remus and I hold Sirius back. There's nothing like that going on between them, even though they would probably both love to do it, but they seem to think that they're still too young or something. Sirius almost jumps out of his clothes to get a go at his brother. Remus just tells him:

"Forget the little pest, Sirius, he's not worth it! He's just jealous, because you're the older one!"

That calms Sirius a bit and we can let him go. But he has his wand out and mutters a little curse, which sends his brother slipping and falling hard onto the marble floor, banging his head on the railing in the process. Sirius just walks by, stops and looks down. Says nothing and all four of us go into the Great Hall for dinner. 

I look at my friend. He shakes his head and has a glint in his eyes, the one I like most, then he says:

"Well, I have one over that slimy little git now - I did present the family with an heir. Decided to start a whole new line of Blacks, should be good, don't you think? They've finally extinct themselves, the Slytherin Blacks."

"I certainly hope for little Denny not to land in that house," I say.

"By the time he'll go to Hogwarts he'll know well enough that the hat listens to requests!" he replies with a grin.

"Good one, Sirius... does it?" I really wouldn't know, I had hardly put it on my head when it shouted Gryffindor.

"Ask your son. The hat thought he'd do well in Slytherin, but all Harry thought was 'not Slytherin', so the hat put him into Gryffindor."

"Oh..." 

Now there's a surprise. My son possibly in Slytherin? Yuck! I'm glad, Harry was reasonable enough to ask not to be sorted there.

"He had little ideas about the houses, just what Ron had told him on the train, but he already knew he didn't particularly like Draco, who expected to be in Slytherin. Then he saw the people at the Slytherin table and thought that they didn't look like a pleasant lot. After the Dursleys he wasn't too keen on the kind," Sirius goes on and his eyes dance with mirth as he tells me that.

"Very good, that will give your children an easier time."

There's more in the Pensieve. We turn and find ourselves back in Grimmauld Place, but this time Sirius is there during the summer vacation after fifth year. 

>>Sirius comes back into his home together with his mother and Regulus. Regulus looks pretty smug about something and Sirius throws a suspicious glance at him. No sooner than the door has closed behind them, Regulus turns to his mother and says:

"Mum, there's something you ought to know about Sirius."

Sirius looks daggers at Regulus. Mrs Black turns to Regulus and asks:

"What is it, dear?"

While Regulus starts to tell her, Sirius moves back to the door, his trunk still in his hand. 

"He's got a... BOYfriend, Mum! He's a bloody poof!"

"What? - SIRIUS!!!" she shrieks, turns to him and starts off:

"Is that true? Is it not enough that you surround yourself with lowlife scum and Muggle-loving riff-raff? Must you go and shame us with being a poof?"

Sirius lets the handle of the door go. He stands up straight and tells her:

"I'm gay, mother, so? Yes, I do have a boyfriend. I love him more than my life. If you don't like it - I don't care, you know!"

She looks like she doesn't know what to say, but then she hits Sirius with a curse. I don't know what it is, but it must have hurt him, because his arms go around his stomach and he goes down on his knees. Not one sound comes out of his mouth. He must have expected something and there's nothing he can do as he's not allowed to use his wand. Regulus stands there, with a smug grin on his face and calmly picks up his trunk to go up to his room. Mrs Black continues to curse Sirius, until he's out cold on the floor. Then she levitates him up to his room and drops him on his bed. One of her house-elves brings up his trunk. The memory shifts again. 

Hogwarts. I think it must have been seventh year. In any case it's the morning after a full moon night. One which Sirius couldn't spend with Moony and since Peter and I were unable to keep the wolf in check alone we hadn't been with him either. Moony had been very lonely and punished himself with some really ugly wounds. Poppy Pomfrey had brought him back to the hospital wing. Sirius slinks down the hall and inside of the ward, joins Remus at his bed and sits on the edge, quietly picking up his lover's hand to hold it. Poppy never throws him out anymore, she knows how much Sirius cares about Remus. She just comes in to check on the boy and, seeing Sirius there, she says:

"I don't understand it, Sirius, he's been so well for almost two years now, and last night he's done this to himself. He'll be out of it until tomorrow I'm afraid."

They both look down on Remus and sigh. Sirius caresses his cheek and bends down to kiss him on the forehead.

"Get well quickly, love, I have to go to classes now. I love you, sweetheart."

Then he slowly gets up and with a last glance at Remus, leaves the room. The memory continues with him coming into the Great Hall, where he gets around the corner to walk to the Gryffindor table. A voice we all hate asks him:

"So, is your little weakling boyfriend sick again? What happened, Black, did you beat him up? I bet he's in the hospital wing. Or did he have to leave for another funeral in his family? He must have run out of relatives to die by now?"

Sirius just turns around and looks the other way. I see myself sitting at our table and calling him over, relieved that he doesn't react to Snape's taunt. But right then I see Dumbledore turning to the Slytherin, taking ten points from Slytherin for this. Sirius looks satisfied and tells us that Remus isn't well. The memory fades, but returns to the next morning, Sirius again sits at Remus' bed. Remus moves and finally wakes from his sleep. His wounds have healed by now, but he's still very tired. I remember that this was a Friday and that Poppy didn't let Remus out until the afternoon. He was freed from the hospital wing but told to go directly to the dorm and stay there for the rest of the day. But this is the morning and when Remus finally wakes up, Sirius bends down to kiss him on the lips. He wraps his arms around his boyfriend and whispers loving words into his neck. I can see Remus returning the embrace and he starts to smile.

"You've been out of it for twenty-four hours, love," Sirius tells him, looking up and into Remus' eyes. 

Gosh, the two of them are just sickeningly sweet! As a teenager I wasn't keen on watching them, now it doesn't disturb me at all anymore. I just love to see them happy, even if that means watching their public displays of affection. 

**Sirius**

I know what follows that memory. Remus may have been out of it for a day and a night, but when I got back from my lessons that day he expected me in the dormitory and highly discouraged Peter and James to turn up before the dinner was over and asked them to bring us some food back up. Now I really hope that this part of the memory doesn't come up...

**Lily**

Again the memory shifts. When I see Sirius again he still wears the same clothes and looks the same. Hours later?

>>Sirius walks up the stairs to the dormitory with James and Peter at his heels. He barges them up rather and rushes inside of the dorm to see how Remus does. Remus is awake and tells James and Peter:

"Can you two please leave us room until after dinner? And would you kindly bring us something to eat when you return? Mustn't be too early either!"

Sirius sits there, stares at his boyfriend and grins sheepishly. James and Peter make a hasty retreat after picking the books they'd need to do their homework. He opens the door and looks back, saying:

"Three times History of Magic homework for that favour, Lupin! At least!"

Then he and Peter vanish, leaving a grinning Sirius and a smiling Remus behind in the dorm. Sirius starts to shed his clothes immediately, telling Remus about the lessons that day on the way. Wow! What a body! He looks absolutely great. By that time he's already 18, almost fully grown, almost two metres tall and his long hair hanging just below his shoulder blades. Remus sits up and pushes the blankets down, showing now that he's already been naked and waiting for Sirius. 

I wonder if I can escape watching them having sex, I feel like a voyeur. All three men who are with me in the memory look at me and I see Sirius grin.

"Just watch, Lily, I don't mind. Moony might, but it was to be expected that there would be one or the other memory like that inside here... I don't consciously remember every time we made love!"

I look at Remus who shrugs his shoulder.

"Sorry. You want out?" he asks.

I shake my head. No, I'll survive this. Though it's hard to admit how much I'm missing it myself.

>> Sirius needs no extra invitation. He hops on the bed, cock already sticking out and starts caressing Remus' pale, but beautiful body. For the first time I can see Remus' numerous scars, scattered all over his front. When he turns and pins Sirius to the bed I can see that his back is practically free from them, as the wolf can't reach himself there. In the glowing afternoon sun both their bodies are covered with a golden sheen. They continue to kiss and caress each other, then Remus starts to suck Sirius' nipples and strokes his cock. Sirius moans and holds Remus close. After a while he pushes Remus gently down. Remus looks up, smiles and calmly bends over the erect organ to pull it into his mouth. What follows must be a perfect blow-job, because Sirius looks like complete and utter bliss. His head tilts back on the pillow and he moans loudly. He has his left hand on Remus' back, caressing him and pressing his finger into the spine occasionally. I can see Remus twitch and shoot glances up at his lover. 

Besides sucking Sirius off Remus starts inserting a finger into Sirius' opening, then a second and finally even a third. He pushes them inside and that seems to unhinge Sirius, because he starts to scream! Cries out Remus' name and in the next moment I can see him convulse and explode, he must have come right into Remus' mouth. Remus quickly swallows the seed. He lets go of Sirius' cock for the moment, but moves around and places himself between Sirius' widely stretched legs. Sirius pulls them up and places them over Remus' shoulders. I watch as Remus whispers a quick spell, then smears some lubricant on his cock and massages some into Siri's opening. And with one fairly swift movement he pushes inside, pulling Sirius' arse a bit up, then starts to thrust inside. It doesn't take very long, I can see him reaching his climax and releasing himself into Sirius who pulls him down for a kiss. 

I've never actually seen a homosexual sex act, but I have to say if it's always more or less like that it looks as appealing as the usual way. I'm not exactly a prude, so while I feel like a voyeur I don't really mind it, because I have a feeling that the two of them don't mind it that much either. And this was at least a wonderful memory in the midst of all those depressing ones.

>> But I have to brace myself, this is a long trip and we are seemingly not spared anything, as we watch them for the next hour going through various positions and recovering periods. By the time James dares coming back into the dorm they must have been through it for about four times. They've pulled the blankets up and closed the bed curtains now. We're of course inside the bed, as we're in Sirius' memory. Remus smiles at his lover and it's that wonderful smile he's always had only for his Sirius. 

In those days I had started to be with James and I knew about Remus' affliction. I was always amazed at the tenderness Sirius had for his friend and when I learned they were a couple it all made sense. Remus was a fellow prefect and we had been friends long before I had begun to think the Marauders worth my time. James in the first place, but I noticed that Sirius had it very hard at home and had just barely escaped from being pressed to become a Death Eater. 

**Remus**

I knew it would be hard to watch those memories. I didn't expect a single good one. It's of course quite embarrassing to have Lily and James with us watching us making love in every detail, but after five minutes I just try to forget about them and dig in my own memories of our lovemaking back then. Watching this brings a smile to my face and an even bigger one to Siri's. Gods, we've been so unencumbered back then. Nothing more to worry about than NEWTS and to keep up my cover. Seventh year and I think it was November, when Sirius landed himself in a detention on the night of the full moon. He was frantic about it, because usually he took great care not to provoke anything of the likes around that time of the month. 

When we finally come out of the Pensieve we notice that we have spent several hours in there. It's close to dinner time and a worried Dobby comes in to tell us that he's got it ready in the kitchen. We're all alone, so we have decided to eat in the kitchen again. We've reduced the table and bench by about half to gain some space in there, while we have the large dining table over in the living room. Sirius and I pick up one of the twins each and place them in their high chairs. Both have already been fed by Dobby and Winky, but we want to have them with us during meal times, to get them curious for our food. Once they will be about a year old we'll start them on our foods. Until then we give them mostly vegetables, cooked with little to no salt and give it to them in small cubes that they can pick up with their little hands. They seem to like this method. For us it has the great advantage that they are busy and we don't need to spoon feed them. Normally they get their food when we eat, but we've been out for so long today that they were hungry before we could start on our own dinner. 

We don't discuss the memories much. Sirius looks quite shaken from some of them. I'm quite glad that at least one of them was a happy memory. I remark:

"These memories are spread over too much time, Siri, maybe you ought to see if we can't give the spell a time frame, so it would be easier to organise them in smaller steps of time and you could then record them easier and organise them. You'd have to jump back and forth all the time the way they came today."

"I'll have to study the Pensieve's information parchment. I thought about the same thing actually."

We do that right after dinner and find the method to gain access to a smaller portion of the subconscious. Sirius empties his Pensieve completely after that, uses the spell and starts adding new memories. According to the information parchment the memories plucked from the brain are not transferred, they are copied, so we can just wipe the Pensieve clear. 

**Sunday, 27.12.1998 / Sirius**

In the morning I sit in front of the Pensieve again and Remus sits next to me. We want to do this more systematically, so he comes with me and we'll go inside but we'll return after each memory. I have only placed ten inside of the Pensieve now, all of my earliest childhood. I don't know at all what to expect, but there were memories that I must have picked up. It's an experiment, since we've set the timeframe from my birth to my first birthday. My brain must have stored some things, because I know that I could have plucked more. 

>> I see my father holding up a baby, which must be me, to the family and presenting it:

"This is Sirius Orion Black, my dear relatives and friends. I proudly present to you the heir of the noble and most ancient house of Blacks!"

There is a murmur all around the gathering. I recognise my uncle Rigel and his pregnant wife Rose, their youngest daughter, my cousin Narcissa, two years old, another cousin from a sister of my father's with her parents, Lucius Malfoy's parents, and a lot of distant relatives. It seems to be on the day of my birth. Obviously they've all come to find out if the child born to my parents is a son or only a daughter. To their visible relief the baby on my father's arms is a boy. 

Remus and I return and I quickly record the contents of the memory on a roll of parchment with a dictaquill. Then we touch the surface of the Pensieve again. 

>> The next memory is of a brightly lit nursery, but apart from the baby, me again, no one is in the room. I watch myself starting to wail and in half a minute a house-elf is there to see what's amiss, then the baby is fed, nappy changed and put back into the cot. It's a cot already, not a cradle anymore, so I must have been a couple of months old. The memory is almost like a photo, nothing moves much. Then the door opens, my mother and my father come inside to look into the cot. There's no smile, no cooing, no touching at all. They just make sure that the baby is taken care of, then they turn and vanish out of the room. After that there is another memory of this kind. We stay on to memorise the surrounding, the atmosphere. Then the next memory comes up, the room changes and I recognise that I've now been moved out of the nursery and into my room. It's a floor up from my parent's master bedroom. There is nothing bright in here. I'm lying in the big four poster bed and a spell hinders me from falling or climbing out. There is now a nanny, a young witch who is taking care of me in place of the house-elves. When the memory starts she's coming inside of the room, closes the door and comes to the bed, taking off the spell that holds me inside. 

"Let's see if you're still clean, brat!" she says and picks the baby out of the bed. 

I soon notice that she doesn't care at all for the baby. If the name calling is any indication she's a cold bitch just barely doing what she's paid for. She drops the baby on the changing cushion and undresses it with a spell, then takes away the nappy, again with a spell and cleans the boy. For all of the undressing, cleaning and dressing again she hasn't touched the child once. She picks it up and puts it in a high chair, then she calls a house-elf who feeds the baby. After that she picks the baby up again and takes it out of the room, down the gloomy halls and stairs to the drawing room, where my parents sit and look the baby over. My father then takes the baby from the witch and goes to the wall where the tapestry with the family tree hangs. 

"Look at this, Sirius, and remember it well! These are all your ancestors and your relatives, dead and alive. They are of the purest blood in the wizarding world and you are their heir! Remember that always, you are the heir of the house of Black! You will never mingle with anyone below your station."

The baby stares at the wall, but I think I can't have seen or recognised much as it has to have taken place before my first birthday. My father repeats his words once again, then I'm placed again in the hands of the young witch who carries me back to my room. 

When we leave the Pensieve we both roll our eyes simultaneously. Then we grin and I say:

"Isn't that just typical? Have they never said anything else to me? That's practically all I've heard through my first years! I hardly saw my parents in these years, they were so busy going about with their social lives that they never took care of me or Regulus themselves."

"All I can say is that your family name suits them..." Remus comments.

"Oh, absolutely. What's worst is that they were all bloody proud of it."

I pick up Seraina and hold her close. Were my parents ever aware of what they missed? After all they had not married for anything like love. Mother had come from another ancient wizarding family of pure blood and she looked it. Inbred and ugly. After Regulus was born they didn't even hold up the image of a married couple anymore. They were a community of interest, formed to produce an heir and after having made two of them they returned to their own rooms, my father looking for his amusement on his own and my mother probably did the same, being as discreet as her position in society demanded. But she had performed her duty as a daughter-in-law and given birth to two male children and couldn't be bothered anymore after that.

So I'm wondering what such a cold life must be like. Or not, because I don't even want to imagine. They wouldn't have been able to understand love for anything, because even their little amusements had nothing to do with love. Most probably they would have been absolutely disgusted by the mere thought of such a sentiment. People were there to fulfil a purpose in life, not to be happy and enjoy life. At least to the outside.

I laugh dryly and kiss Seraina. I'm overjoyed to have what I have every day of my life now. Every time I feel my daughter or my son in any way I'm close to crying of happiness, even after all those months and after the many nights we've been up to console the twins. Yes, I do think of my son as my heir, but I'm starting a whole new legacy of the Black family with him. He's to grow up the way I would never have been allowed to. In the care of parents who cherish and love him and encourage him to show love whenever he wants to. 

"I think I'll have Grimmauld Place destroyed, Remus," I say suddenly.

"Nah, don't do that, just let it rot, Siri. You don't need to break it down, it probably will by itself sooner or later."

He's right as usual of course. I let Seraina go and dictate the memory to the dictaquill. Then he takes my hand and we return to the Pensieve. 

>> The next two or three memories contain practically the same. Only by the different clothes and the growth can I see that time has actually passed. My room now contains wizarding baby toys and a playpen on the carpet. I'm mostly just sitting in there and by the third memory I'm pushing myself up on the bars of the playpen. I'm babbling something and the young witch comes inside and gives me a toy I have dropped outside of the playpen. She doesn't smile, doesn't speak, just mechanically hands me back toys. 

I feel Remus' hand squeezing mine. He shakes his head and wonders:

"How did you learn to speak?"

"Don't ask me, I have no idea."

>> The last memory is of my first birthday. I'm handed a handful of gifts, with which I know not really what to do, so they're opened for me. I wear beautiful tiny robes and my black hair is already shiny, people pat my head, don't smile, but say what a handsome child I am and then the young witch takes me back to my room. 

I'm quickly through dictating that to the quill. We clear the Pensieve and set the next time frame. After my first birthday to my second. This time we've set the spell to pick all my memories from that time frame and I can quickly see that there are a lot more. Going in we look at the first memory.

**Remus**

>> Sirius is trained to follow every order. He's a bright child, and if I see this smiling, cooing baby there in the playpen my heart goes out to him. Never is he encouraged to do anything, when he smiles he meets scowls. It seems that the family tries everything to make him as dull, dank and dark like they are. All except for one uncle. It's Uncle Alphard of course, when he comes to the house, he comes up the stairs and heads for his little nephew's room. He picks the boy up and holds him on his arm.

"Let those bastards try and make another stupid Black of you, Sirius, I'm here to protect you and tell you about the bright sides of life! You will mark a change in the history of the Blacks if I can help it in any way! If you grow up to be what I think you can become then you shall one day be free from them! If they never tell you anything like that, know that I love you and as long as you are a really good kid I'll keep loving you."

The child is hard to recognise after that. There's a bright spark in those blue-grey eyes and he holds his arms out for his uncle. There are about three more memories like that, and every time Uncle Alphard goes to see his nephew and keeps him company, plays with the toddler for a while and encourages Sirius to babble and tell him stories in his baby talk. So that's how he learned to speak, I think. Sirius himself smiles now and looks over to me.

"Now I know how I could come out the way I did in the middle of those bastards. They didn't count, only Uncle Alphard did. Once I went to Hogwarts they forbade him to see me, but of course we corresponded when I was at Hogwarts as you know."

The next memory is again of the young witch, who still only uses spells to undress and change Sirius. He is even levitated into the bathtub where she washes him quickly and roughly. He gets fed and is put to bed, still with the spell that keeps him inside. In a further memory I see the little boy waking up at night and when he starts to cry for someone no one turns up. He finally screws his eyes shut and tries to stifle the wailing himself. It's hard to look at this when I know that our own children are just next to us, with James and Lily and Dobby and Winky taking loving care of them while we're going through those awful memories. I just want to hug Sirius and hold him, assure him of the love he gets from all of us. 

When we see his parents in one of the next memories we can see his mother is pregnant with Regulus. She's even quite far gone already. I know that Regulus is two years and a month younger than Sirius, so it must already be close to his second birthday. 

He records the memories, with a dull voice and James and Lily listen with their eyes wide open. They join us for the next round of memories, which we still spread over a year. Many of them are just everyday sort of things, seen from Sirius' two years old mind, the silent young witch is still there and still treats him with a disdainful demeanour, cold and distant. 

>> We are in the drawing room of the house again and there's a photographer to take a family picture, Mr. Black standing behind his wife who holds their second son Regulus, while Sirius leans on his mother's knee. His smile for the camera is real, while his parents' smiles look terribly frozen. What a beautiful child Sirius was. Two years old, silky black hair, a lovely face with those stormy eyes and his cute nose. His mouth is pulled in a friendly grin and he waves in the camera, but his mother puts his hand down. The grin vanishes. 

There is a bit more interaction with his parents now. Sirius is brought to dinner with them and he hears them preaching about the family all the time. 

"Always remember to set a good example for your brother, Sirius! He needs you to show him what a true Black is to be like!" his father keeps saying.

Finally we see a memory where he's being taken outside of the house and for a walk in the park. The young witch has a tight reign on him though and when he tries to play with children around the park he's pulled away immediately. He is not allowed to mingle with them.

"You are not playing with them, Sirius, they are scum, Muggles, useless dirt!" she hisses.

And after that he's taken home immediately. I can see tears in his eyes. And in the next memory with his parents we hear his mother say:

"We have thought that you need playmates of your age, Sirius. We have asked your aunt and uncle to bring Bellatrix over so the two of you can play together. There will be other children from good wizarding families you can play with."

And soon after that there is almost an invasion of children in Sirius' room. I can see Bellatrix and Severus and Sirius tells me who the others are:

"That's little Rodolphus Lestrange. Bastard, even then! Then there's Nestroy Avery. Anna Beth Wilson. Anna Beth never saw Hogwarts. In fact she didn't live past eleven, because she turned out to be a squib, so she had an 'accident'."

I shudder. Anna Beth looks like a very nice little girl, blond ringlets and dark blue eyes, a smile on her face like an angel. I don't even want to think of such a destiny. I watch the children playing, but I notice that Sirius soon holds back. He doesn't really mingle with them, not even with Bellatrix, whom he knows best of them all. Severus accidentally breaks one of Sirius' toys and they start to fight, but the young witch, Sirius doesn't remember her name, separates them immediately.

We see several such memories. Never is the playing time peaceful and many times the boys pick on Anna Beth who just crumbles and hides as much as she can. She doesn't seem to be the only one, but Sirius and Anna Beth don't find together either. It all looks very awkward. Then there's a memory with Sirius and Regulus. Sirius just looks at the baby. When he tries to touch it he's being taken away. 

The memories continue this way until shortly before his sixth birthday. 

>> The young witch is still there and takes Sirius and Regulus to the park, keeps an eye over them so they do not even try to play with muggle children. It's summer and Sirius runs around on the grass, happy to be in the sun. His uncle Alphard turns up and Sirius runs to him, even more happy to see the only friend in his family. He's being scooped up and swung around.

"Hello, my little friend! Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes, Uncle Alphard! It's so dark inside and I'm not allowed out on my own at all!" Sirius says with his bright, but saddened voice.

"I know, poor kid that you are. Shall I tell you a story?"

"Oh yes, please, Uncle Alphard!"

Sirius, back on the ground, seizes his uncle's hand and pulls him to a free park bench. Alphard sits down and takes a book out of his pocket. He looks over and asks Regulus if he wants to come and listen, too, but Regulus shakes his head and sticks to the young witch. I look how he looks down on his feet, not wanting anything to do with the uncle that his parents declared to be a bad Black. The young witch does not dare to come too close. She knows that Alphard is regarded as a bad influence on the Black heirs, and he is strongly discouraged to come to his parental home, but he often sees Sirius in the park and Sirius is obviously very attached to the man. She doesn't dare to go too close and pry Sirius from his uncle, because the first - and last - time she has tried this she's been hit with a confounding curse that he only lifted hours later when he felt Sirius had been refilled with positive energy.

They both sit down next to each other and Alphard begins to read to Sirius, who cannot yet read and write at all. Something which his uncle notices with much disappointment, but Sirius tells him:

"I'm not allowed to, Uncle Alphard! They tell me I go to school soon and that I would learn it early enough."

"They are not doing you a favour, Sirius, but there you go. So, I'll just read the story to you, okay?"

"Yes, please, Uncle Alphard. No one ever reads stories to me, only you. Is it a Muggle story?"

"Actually this one is!"

Alphard starts reading Tom Sawyer to Sirius who listens without ever interrupting for about three or four chapters. Sirius' face shows his bliss at being allowed to hear something that lets him slip into another world, a world of fantasy, of adventure and thrill. That must have been one of the moments when his inquisitive mind was really woken, when he discovered that there were things to learn out there. After a while, Alphard puts the book back in his pocket and says:

"That's enough for today, Sirius! I'll read some more for you another time. You'll be going to school in September, so you'll learn to read yourself, finally, and I'll make sure that your birthday presents will always contain books. Some of them you might want to hide though, because they will be books like this one. I'll certainly cover them with something wizarding, but you'll know when you should not let them lie around."

Sirius' eyes gleam with mirth. He loves this uncle who is the only one in his family who can laugh and smiles at him. He embraces the boy and says:

"You are a bright child, Sirius! You will enjoy school, believe me, even if it is a wizarding primary school. You'll meet other wizarding children there which will do you an awful lot of good. I don't think much of the lot that your parents deem good enough for you to play with."

"They're always fighting, Uncle Alphard! I really don't like them. Severus has kicked me a whole lot of times he was there the last time and then he's had the nerve to run to Mum and tell her that I kicked him! And she punished me for it!"

Alphard rolls his eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Sirius. There's not much I can do because they wouldn't let me see you at all if I interfered. As it is they think I'm corrupting you, and they're perfectly right, that's exactly what I'm doing. But I don't want to see your wonderful soul being turned into what they are! Hold on to it, Sirius, and whenever they do something like this, think of me and that I love you. Okay?"

"Okay. Do you have to go already?"

"Yes, dear, it's time for me to go, and you need to go back for tea."

Sirius sighs, then hugs his uncle by standing up on the bench. He hops down, waves again and races to where the young witch and Regulus are impatiently waiting for him. Within a few seconds his mood and his facial expression change. He shows them an indifferent face, falls into step next to them and follows them back to his dreary home.

Again the memory shifts. Sirius is taken to Diagon Alley for the first time in his life. His mother pulls him into some shops, buys his first school robes at Madam Malkin's, they are blue in colour. Then he receives a series of school books, parchment and quill, his equipment for the primary school he is to go to soon. Mrs Black doesn't take her time, she pulls Sirius along, with a tight grip on his wrist, not his hand and she doesn't look left or right unless she meets someone who is deemed worthy of her attention. In every shop they step she gets first class treatment, but Sirius clearly sees the dislike in the eyes of many shop assistants. Mrs Malkin is very friendly and competent, but her eyes only show warmth when Sirius flashes her a true smile. Then she pulls the robes over him with great care and warm words:

"Here you are, dear, let me just quickly fit that. Are you looking forward to go to school?"

"Oh yes! I can't wait to go!" Sirius says eagerly.

"Don't talk with subordinates, Sirius!" his mother commands with a hiss.

Immediately the spark in Sirius' eyes vanishes. But Madam Malkin has seen it and has already noted that this young Black might be a bit different from most of the rest. He shrugs his shoulders a little. Madam Malkin gives him a quick smile, one that his mother doesn't see and winks understandingly.

Again the memory shifts. Sirius' mother takes him by the wrist and puts him in front of the floo fireplace. She hands him the floo powder and says, checking that he has everything with him, wears the proper clothing and has his hair nicely combed:

"Say 'Hogsmeade Primary', Sirius. You go first, I'll come after you."

Sirius throws the powder into the fire and steps inside, saying the proper name and vanishes. He comes out in the hall of the school, big and friendly, and his mother apparates next to him only moments later. She cleans Sirius from the soot he's picked up and they move to the school's entrance hall. Many other children are there already and Mrs Black joins her sister-in-law with her daughter Bellatrix. Narcissa is there, too, but she soon says her goodbyes to join her classmates. The two Black mothers take their children to the first year classrooms they have been assigned to. Much to the dismay of the mothers Sirius and Bellatrix have been put in different classes. Sirius doesn't mind at all, as his cousin is a rather mean girl, who pinches and bites whenever she gets a chance to do so. And since she's a girl and two months younger than Sirius he isn't allowed to fight with her or he gets punished. So he's rather relieved to find out that he doesn't have to share the classroom with her. But to his dismay Severus has been put in his class. 

There are some thirty-eight children, spread over two classes. Sirius sees some faces he knows, but they are only the select few his parents have allowed to play with him. As soon as the children are inside of the classroom, the parents who have brought them are asked to leave to make it easier for the teachers to deal with the children. Sirius immediately leaves the group of children he dislikes and for a moment he stands alone until another black haired boy steps up to him.

"Hi! I'm James Potter, who are you?"

Sirius looks at the boy who is next to him. His hazel eyes look through round glasses, his short black hair sticks up in funny angles and he has a big grin on his face. Sirius grins right back and holds out his hand:

"Sirius Black. - Are you a pureblood? My parents won't allow me to play with anyone that's not. Not that I really care..."

"From THE Blacks? Wow. Yeah, I am. A pureblood, I mean. Though my family probably stays far away from yours. We love the Muggles, you know."

"Yeah, that would be a good enough reason for mine to say yours are scum!"

"Do you still want to be friends? It's only that I saw you move away from Severus as soon as your Mum left."

Sirius grins.

"Sure! I hate that kid! He comes to our house and he treats me horribly! Said if he'd had a wand himself he'd curse me. I would really like to know why."

"Oh, we'll play a few pranks on him and he'll stop!" James promises.

"Don't know - he'd probably tell my Mum and then there'd be hell to pay."

James looks at Sirius with wide eyes. 

"You think so?"

But before Sirius can reply the teacher calls them up and asks them to sit down at the tables in the room. Sirius and James take a seat next to each other and look at the teacher.

"Hello everyone! I'm Miss Ferguson and I'll be your teacher for the next year. That's what you will call me, too. Now I'd like to go through the list of your names so I will remember who you are. Alright?"

The children actually pay attention and answer her call. She looks at them all and places a little name plaque in front of them with a wave of her wand.

"I might need the help of the plaques for a few days. Please take it home with you and place it in front of you on the table every morning. Now - who among you can already read a bit?"

About half of the children lift their hands, Severus among them, much to Sirius' visible dismay. He turns to James, who seems to be able to read, too and says:

"I so wanted to learn, but they wouldn't allow me to. Can you believe it?"

The memory shifts again and from now on we float through many memories of Sirius' first school days. He learns to read in a matter of weeks. Writing follows quickly afterwards and whatever the teacher brings up, Sirius is like a sponge and licks it all up. Finally his mind gets occupied with some knowledge other than the arrogance his parents have tried to plant into him. He seems to never even have to think about memorising things, he hears them and there they are. He's active and replies to Miss Ferguson's questions often. From on his first tests his marks are in the top three at all times. 

But in one of the next memories we find that there are drawbacks. His parents are not delighted when they find out who Sirius' best friend at school is. They tell him off, but he stubbornly sticks to James and while he is not allowed to see James outside of school, the two enjoy being friends inside of it. When Sirius comes home he storms up to his room to get his homework done. Then he usually looks for something to read, because he's not allowed outside of the house alone. At dinner he is questioned by his parents about his day at school. 

Then there's the day that Sirius and James pull their first prank on Severus. The boy is in a close-knit group of friends from his circles, Rodolphus Lestrange and Nestroy Avery are among them. 

Then Sirius gestured to another two boys in the group and said:

"Evan Rosier. Ryan Wilkes."

>> Now I remember them both. I've seen them trying to bully some of the other children, but I've seen Sirius and James stand up and telling them off. To give them a bit of their minds they had the original idea to put something very slippery on their chairs, so each time they tried to sit down they slipped off. The teacher got really annoyed with them and when they said their chairs were slippery, she checked the chairs, but nothing was visible.

"Sit down and behave now or you will all serve a detention!" she threatens them.

Of course they all fall off their chairs again and promptly get decked with a detention and a low mark for bad behaviour. Sirius and James exercise their straight face with that very first prank and after the lesson is over they walk out of the room and high-five each other. Once the class has left the room though, they're back inside in seconds flat to clean the chairs from the invisible sliding potion they have received from a cousin of James'. 

Of course Mr. and Mrs Black hear of the prank through the Snapes and Rosiers and in the next memory we witness the repercussions for Sirius. Asked if he'd done it, he admits it freely. So far he's been treated with cold distance, but we've never seen him disciplined other than being sent to his room. But now his father pulls out his wand and coolly curses Sirius with a boxing hex and another one. Sirius slumps on the floor of the drawing room and looks up with frightened eyes. 

"That will hopefully teach you not to treat your friends like this! Go back to your room, Sirius, you will not come down here before you go to school tomorrow!" his father tells him in a cold voice.

Sirius follows the order, but once in his room there are tears in his eyes. The young witch is now only in charge of Regulus, so he really is all alone until the morning. A house-elf brings him something to eat, just a plate of soup and a slice of bread. 

From now on every second or third memory contains some kind of a punishment. Sirius sticks up for the weaker kids at school, gets great marks, is loved by most everyone but his family and his supposed to be friends. The rift between himself and his family is opening up fast. 

These are all things I've never known about my loved one. Sirius has kept them well hidden because like me and like most people he detests being pitied. 

**Monday, 28.12.1998 / Remus**

Sirius has spent last night dictating the memories to the dictaquill. He is just writing down what he sees and does not put it in any form yet, he just notes down the facts and some descriptions. This morning we go to the last year before he came to Hogwarts. We separate it into three blocks because by now the memories are flowing much easier. Because this is an age where he started to keep the memories consciously we use the spell to pluck them in a chronological order from both his subconscious and conscious. 

>> The first memory is from getting the school books for the last year of primary school. Sirius is taken by his mother. Regulus is with them and both boys aren't allowed one step away from their mother the entire time. They return to Grimmauld Place and Sirius is left to his own devices as long as he stays in the house. The next day school starts again and Sirius floos to Hogsmeade, Regulus following him immediately. Sirius is already seeing to it that he's gone before his brother arrives. He meets up with James and other friends before heading on to their classroom.

The next memory is of dinner where Sirius is silent and Regulus tells his parents of everything that has happened at school. 

This pattern is what we get to see for a couple of times. Regulus tells his parents everything. He doesn't hold back with his opinion of his older brother and usually sticks his nose up in the air about Sirius' antics, which brings Sirius into trouble time and again. Sometimes we wonder how Regulus gets to know these things, but Sirius himself shrugs his shoulders and says:

"He's had it from both, Severus and Evan, who gladly told him everything, truth and lies and Regulus told our parents. When he told them lies there was no use to deny anything, because they believed every word he said."

It's a miracle that Sirius is still allowed to attend school. A few memories are filled with the way his mother and father punish him with all sorts of curses. There are weeks he doesn't get away one single day. About once every fifth time Regulus tells his parents about something James and Sirius actually did to Severus. Sirius has given up protesting. He sometimes tries to stay in his room right after school, but he's being dragged out and punished nevertheless. And he never says one word to James. He tells his friend everything but the way his parents treat him. It will take years until he finally lets James know how exactly his home life had looked like. He never wanted me to know about it. 

Regarding Severus I have the impression that the more lies Regulus tells his parents about Sirius' treatment of the boy the more Sirius hates Severus. Most probably Severus and Evan have fed Regulus with a lot of those lies and he's taken them at face value. But sometimes we have seen the boy look at Sirius with a sly expression while he made up the stories. Sirius was always punished in front of Regulus, and I'm pretty sure that he regaled this to the other boys with glee.

**James**

So that's what it really was like for Padfoot. Gods my heart is bleeding for him. What if we hadn't become friends when we did? Would he have had the strength to ask the Sorting Hat to place him anywhere but in Slytherin? We come out of the Pensieve for a break, Sirius notes down a few details, Lily watching him, still in shock about all that she saw. She even starts to apologise for all the times she's been hard on him, but he brushes it away:

"Don't Lily, just don't! By the time I came to Hogwarts I was already being used to be treated that way. You do remember the howler I got after the Sorting, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. Who wouldn't? But I thought later that now I knew from where you had your arrogance. I probably thought you had wanted to be in Slytherin, but hadn't got in. At least for a while. You made it pretty clear pretty soon what you thought about the Slytherins, but I still thought you were arrogant."

"I was brought up to be arrogant. Anyone below our circles was being treated with snide remarks and put down in front of me and I was to do the same. I rarely did, but I did do it with the house-elves who actually admired my mother. They would go and tell her everything I did and there was no way to get out of her clutches at home. Of course I couldn't suppress all of that at school."

"Which is why we learned the spell to turn something into a Portkey. We had to go through the Restricted Section for that, but for all eventualities we wanted Sirius to be able to get out of the house," I say.

"And that was about four or five months before I really needed it," Sirius says with a very low voice.

Remus puts his arm around Siri and pulls him close. Sirius just lays his head on Remus' shoulder and says quietly:

"I don't know if I'd be able to look at all of this without you guys! But I know I have to go through it to find closure. I have to be able to put this aside and really move on."

He's right of course. Oh, Padfoot, whoever is responsible for this should really roast in hell forever! No child deserves anything like that. It's not that he was the only one punished, as we've seen in the memories. The Blacks have repeatedly mistreated both the boys for 'prophylactic' reasons. What his parents were trying to achieve with that method is a mystery to me, but I do wonder if other children in those families went through similar things. I think, I may have to visit Andromeda once to find out!

Sirius braces himself and we return inside of the Pensieve. I don't know how much I can still stand, but the worst of Sirius' home life before Hogwarts is still to come. 

>> The Hogwarts letter arrives and Sirius is happy to know that he'll get out of the house for most of the years to come. At dinner his parents discuss the letter and wonder if he also gets in invitation to Durmstrang. The shock in Sirius' eyes is visible. Then his mother says:

"Madeline Snape has told me that Severus will be going to Hogwarts, and so will Evan, Nestroy, Ryan and Bellatrix, so I think we can send Sirius there."

"Yes, you are right, it would look strange if our friends send their children to Hogwarts and we'd be the only ones to send Sirius somewhere else. We've all been Slytherins after all."

The relief in Sirius' eyes would have been visible, too, had his parents cared to look. So the memory shifts and once again it's Diagon Alley with another trip to fit new robes, black this time, to buy books and school supplies of the magical kind now and finally a wand. It doesn't take too long. Sirius' eyes gleam when he gets his own wand finally in his hand. Everything is put away with his new school trunk and as a pet he gets his first owl. He calls the owl Tom, but his parents don't know it's for Tom Sawyer, the first ever Muggle book Sirius has read all by himself. The first trip Tom is sent on is to take a letter first to myself, then to Alphard. A means of communication beyond the fireplace, which is in a very public area of the house, so Sirius had no way of contacting his real friends privately until now. I remember that first letter in his typical scrawl, all excited and looking forward to get out of the house, but full of worries about the house he'd be sorted into.

The next memory seems to be a few days before the school year starts. Sirius' parents comment on the nasty way they have to go to take him to King's Cross Station and that they will be forced to walk through all those Muggles. 

"Not to speak of all the Mudbloods who will be there, because that fool Dumbledore welcomes them with open arms. I've been shocked to the bones when I heard that he was the one who strongly recommended it twenty-five years ago after he brought down Grindelwald. Now we again have half of the wizarding community run over by the scum," Sirius' father says.

"That was a shame in the first place! After all, Grindelwald was on the right track," Mrs Black comments.

"Oh, certainly, but that wouldn't stop the Muggle-loving fool. But I've heard that there's someone who will guide us to better times again. Called Lord Voldemort and I know that Mark Wilkes is already one of his followers."

Sirius can't hold his mouth.

"You're not talking about the nutter who goes out and kills people randomly, just because they're half-bloods or Muggle-born?" he asks.

Wrong thing to say, Padfoot.

"You will never speak with such foul language and disrespect about the new Dark Lord, Sirius! He was a loyal follower of Grindelwald's and he should lead us into a bright future!" his father shouts with a thundering voice. 

Sirius only cowers for a moment, then he speaks his mind.

"But that is wrong. It is wrong to kill anyone!"

His father is up from his chair in a moment and the next thing I see is a whip in his hand. He pulls Sirius away from the table and starts whipping him over the back until the robes he wears are torn to shreds and Sirius' back is covered with bloody marks from the whip. 

Both, Remus and I watch in horror. The boy is down on the earth and when the whip vanishes, a house-elf is called to levitate Sirius to his room, where he's unceremoniously dropped on the floor. After the first strike with the whip Sirius has gritted his teeth and there was not a sound out of his mouth. Now he weeps, silently, because he knows if they hear him it will only get worse. He's left lying there presumably the whole night. Because the memory shifts and in the morning his mother comes in and he's still there, the way he fell to the floor, unable to move. She waves her wand and the shreds are replaced by clean clothes, otherwise nothing gets done. 

Sirius closes his eyes. 

"Took three days until I could move. The night before the term was to start she healed what was left of the whip marks and the blood. I could hardly walk, because I was so weak from not having eaten at all since that evening," he whispers. 

We all bite our lower lips and don't know what to say. We take him out of the Pensieve and Remus says softly:

"We'll take a break, Sirius."

Sirius seems to be ready for that. Lily dictates all the details of the last memory to the quill while Remus leads Sirius out of the room and takes him to their bedroom. Half an hour later he comes back down. It's time to take the children to bed and he asks Winky to help him with one of them. 

"I'll stay with Siri afterwards..." 

"Yes, Remus, that's fine! I hope he can sleep," I confirm.

Then I hear nothing of them anymore for the rest of the evening. Lily reads over the parchment roll. She's gone all the way to the start and reads over it, shaking her head and wondering:

"Will it be a chance for the wizarding world to get better now that the old pureblood families are so decimated and only the ones remain that were not so tainted by the Dark Arts?"

"I sincerely hope so, Lily. Otherwise it was all in vain. Though there will certainly be new 'Dark Lords' they will probably have a harder time to find followers."

**Tuesday, 29.12.1998 / Sirius**

I've slept through the night and haven't noticed any dreams! I definitely expected nightmares, but Remus has been holding me and the dreams stayed in my subconscious. I don't know if that's good or bad and I don't know what happens when I have to sleep alone, but I'm not bothering to think about that right now. I return to my task of going through my childhood memories. There's a lot together already, which I'll flesh out a bit still, because the pure facts alone are just too bloody dreary.

The next series of memories we gather from around the time I went to Hogwarts. Meeting James on the train...

>> I see myself being led through the barrier at King's Cross for the first time. I can almost feel my excitement again. For two years at least I'll be out of the clutches of my family for most of the year. 

**James**

>> Sirius is coming through the barrier. I see myself standing on the platform with my parents, who are laughing and wishing me all the best for a good start of the term. By that time I've never seen Sirius' parents and I was shocked to see how they looked. Sirius is a miniature of his father. Mr. Black is very tall, slender, has sleek black hair and grey eyes. Sirius looks exactly the same, only much smaller. Then I see his mother. She's about the ugliest woman I've ever seen, to be honest and I'm so thankful that Sirius looks so much like his father it's uncanny. First of all she looks old. Her hair is wispy and seems to be all around her head, her eyes are dark violet and her mouth is pressed into a thin line. Sirius doesn't even look at me directly, but he's already sent me a warning with Tom about that. Next to his mother there's Regulus. Her hand rests on Regulus' shoulder and he looks very smug about something. I hear them giving him last orders for the trip and the term. My younger self looks shocked at the way Sirius' face is expressionless, how he holds back any biting comments, that would be out in seconds flat if anyone at school would have talked to him this way. Before the train leaves his family returns through the barrier, leaving him to fend alone with his trunk. 

Finally Sirius pushes his trolley to me and says brightly:

"Hi, James! Ready to go?"

"Hi, Sirius! Of course. These are my parents, Sirius. Mum, Dad, this is Sirius Black..."

"Ah, your friend who was not allowed to come and visit us? Hello Sirius! I'm pleased to meet you!" my father says.

Sirius blinks, holds out his hand and shakes my Dad's, then my Mum's.

"Don't worry, Sirius, I know your parents, they aren't very fond of me, that's true, but you have to grow up to become your own person, not a pawn in their hand. If you can manage that you'll always be welcome with us!" my Mum tells Sirius.

"Thank you, sir... madam..." Sirius is a bit embarrassed, he's really not used to adults who are kind with him. Except for most of the teachers at the primary school and his uncle he's never been treated kindly.

"So - let's give you a hand with that trunk of yours, Sirius! That looks heavy!"

"It is. Thank you, Mr. Potter."

My Dad helps us bring our trunks inside of the train, then waits with us until it's time to go inside. We have found an empty compartment, open the window and wave goodbye to my parents.

"Have a good term, you two! And remember to have some fun between studying!" Dad orders us.

"We will, Daddy! Bye Mum!" I call while the train leaves. 

The memory shifts to a couple of hours later, when the door opens and Bellatrix, Severus and the whole bunch of them come into our compartment. We have a hard time to get them back out again and Severus tries to hex Sirius and then my younger self, but they get chased out by a prefect passing through the carriage.

"What's this here? You're first years, aren't you? Do you wish to lose house points before you are even sorted? Off to your own carriage you go or you'll be in detention for the whole first week!" the boy says, his hands firmly on his hips.

Bellatrix looks him up and down, then says haughtily:

"And who are you to command us around?"

"Don't try to mouth back, girl, you can see very well that I'm a prefect. And that's now ten points from whatever house you'll be in and that detention I've threatened you with. What's your name?"

"I don't need to tell you that! You're not in Slytherin and I won't listen to you anyway!" she says.

Sirius turns to the prefect and says:

"Her name is Bellatrix Black."

"Ah! Now I understand. Now listen here, Bellatrix: you will have to follow every prefect's orders, not only those of the house in which you'll probably land yourself. With an attitude like yours you will be very much disliked by anyone, now off you go!"

She just laughs, but finally leaves our compartment. The boys look like they still want to hang around, but the prefect looks at them sternly and says, tapping with his feet:

"And? Do you want a detention, too?"

Finally they leave. Sirius looks up to the prefect and says:

"Thanks for the help..."

"Frank Longbottom. That's okay, kid, if there's one thing I can't stand it's that kind of ganging up on someone. You're first years, too, eh?"

"Yes."

"Well, good luck for the sorting then! I'll see you tonight!"

With that, Frank left the compartment and went on, checking that the ghastly group has settled down in their own compartment again. The rest of the trip was uneventful and the memory shifts to the gathering on the platform at Hogsmeade. We know it well enough, having been here at school for the last six years. A huge man is waiting for all the first years and gathers us at one end of the platform. He counts us, makes sure we're all the first years and then says:

"Well, now I'll take ye across the lake to the castle. Ye'll be expected to be sorted after that. I'm Rubeus Hagrid by the way, keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. You can call me Hagrid, everyone does. Now come on!"

While we march off I can hear Ryan say to Severus:

"What an oaf! Looks like a half-giant."

"Worst of every side they get. Looks like he's rather stupid, too."

They giggle about that. I remember that I balled my fists overhearing this. Sirius turns and just glares at them. Severus glares right back and warns Sirius:

"Just wait until tonight when we'll be in our dorm! You won't have much to laugh and your low class friends won't be there!"

Finally we all climb into the little boats. Luckily, none of the gits tries to get into ours, but they're not far away and Sirius aims a stone at Severus, who actually falls into the lake. Hagrid is there to fish him out and chides him for being clumsy. My younger self and Sirius hide our giggles.

A dripping wet Severus and the rest of the first years are gathered in the Entrance Hall and then guided into the Great Hall. We get into a line, Severus still rather moist, then we get called to the hat. Sirius is the third to go. As was expected of her, his cousin has been sorted into Slytherin. Sirius looks like he's being led to the scaffold. It doesn't even take very long, and I remember how my heart went light the moment I heard the hat shout Gryffindor! Everyone among the teachers and all the Slytherins looked so bloody perplexed it was too funny. Even Dumbledore looked very astonished. Much later he would tell me that he was completely and utterly surprised. He had known that two Black children would start Hogwarts that year and was most flabbergasted that one of them went to the most unlikely house any Black could go. 

The memory shifts again, this time to the moment Remus sat on the stool to put the hat on his head. This took a long time. I remember that I had tried to keep the name, but had forgotten it immediately. But I saw that Dumbledore watched with baited breath and when the hat screamed Gryffindor he had a relieved smile on his face. I think it really had to be fate. Then it was the turn of another boy to be sorted into Gryffindor and right after that it was my turn. The last thing I saw before the hat covered me was that Remus and Sirius were already talking with each other. And the next thing I heard was the hat was just saying:

"I know what to do with you, my child! Gryffindor!"

I watch as little James walks over to the Gryffindor table, introducing himself to everyone else. Then he asks Sirius:

"How did you avoid getting sorted into Slytherin, you sly thing?"

"I still don't really know, James! But I kind of thought to the hat to get it over and done with and shove me into the snake house if it had to be. And it said it'd most certainly wouldn't sort me into a house I obviously didn't want to go!" 

"Wow!" said Peter. "You thought you'd be sorted into Slytherin? Why?"

"Because all my family has always been there. You have no idea how relieved I am not to be there!" 

There are then a lot of memories of our first school days. Most outstanding of course was the next morning with the howler from Sirius' mother, which, after I'd first seen her, didn't astonish me at all. 

>> I watch Dumbledore destroying it before it was only halfway through, but enough evil things had already come out of it. Sirius probably wanted to vanish into the earth or something. It was actually Remus, who lifted his spirits. He hadn't talked much after my arrival at the table the night before, but he'd listened with great care, so he said now in a low but determined voice:

"Don't think anything of it, Sirius, the best is to hold up your head high and not react to anything anyone says!"

Sirius swallows and looks at this new dorm-mate, then replies:

"Thanks for that, Remus."

In the course of the next few memories we relive how Remus and Sirius hit off from the beginning. Remus is still very small, almost tiny compared to Sirius and I. Sirius is easily the tallest among us. Peter is barely taller than Remus, but a lot rounder. He doesn't only look like a baby he acts much more like a baby than any of us. He is the only one among us who has difficulties at the start and misses his family too much. He is the youngest of three brothers and the others are both out of school already. Since no one else shares our dorm we take him under our wings. Again, Remus is the driving force, claiming that no one should be lonely in a crowd. 

The first potions class with the Slytherins comes around and of course that won't be pleasant. The Professor is older than sin and my father has told me beforehand he was the head of Slytherin house, but a very complacent character. Just how complacent he hasn't told me. The man must have been deaf and blind!

It made for good lessons though and we learned quite well with him. It also meant that we didn't get treated badly, but he never saw the most obvious things the Slytherins played on us. I'm waiting for something to come up among Sirius' memories and there it is. The first time we dare pulling a prank in potions on the Slytherins. Old Professor Simmons looks a bit like a mole when he squeezes his eyes almost shut to squint over the classroom. Sirius and my younger self sit together right behind Remus and Peter and since it's a practical lesson, the two of them drop a wrong ingredient into Wilkes' and Rosier's cauldron as those two sit closest. Instead of a potion that heals burns the two of them get a potion that causes bruises, so when it runs over the cauldron they get both hit. Professor Simmons thinks it's an accident and sends them both to Madam Pomfrey. I hear the four soon to be Marauders snicker, the other Slytherins, mainly Snape, seethe and another new Gryffindor, a girl with auburn hair and green eyes looks around to the four boys and makes an angry face. 

After filing out of the classroom she rounds the four boys up and hisses:

"Are you aware that the potion could have exploded? What did you add in there?"

"Stop worrying, Evans, if you had looked a few pages ahead you'd have found a variety of today's potion, which heals bruises. And one ingredient more causes them... that's what we did. We added the remaining ingredient to 'cause' the bruises," James says coolly.

"That's cruel!" she insists and rushes away with her friends. 

That was the moment the long lasting feud between myself and my future wife started and the moment we started calling her Saint Evans. She hated it! 

**Lily**

They used to call me Saint Evans. Well, mainly James and Peter did. Sirius called me Tiger-Lily, which was almost worse. It took quite a lot not to hex them on the spot, but to stick my nose in the air and pass them with my head turned.

I don't know what would have been different had I known about Sirius' home life. But I learned to know him as the member of one of the oldest and proudest wizarding families and to my view he acted it. He was so arrogant! Barely any better than Severus and his gang of Slytherins. Different arrogant than James, but just as bad. Both were not arrogant of their blood lines, but of their ability to just suck up everything, to act like nothing concerned them and still hand in tests and homework that got top marks. I was jealous and it irked me so much I tried to defy them in every subject. We fought a mostly silent war in the next six years. 

But it's fascinating to watch all that from Sirius' memories. It's especially nice to see from a distance how Remus and Sirius hit off right from the start. They were too cute for words those two and I'm sure the basis for their love was laid right at the beginning. I had come to the Gryffindor table as the second new first year, introduced myself to Sirius and whoever sat nearby, sat myself on the other side of Sirius, then Remus came next. He sat down next to Sirius and looked around with those amazing amber eyes. They were more brown than gold actually, but with the light of all those candles they got that golden sheen perfectly. Sirius looked into them quite intently even then. They started talking and only when James joined us at the table, sitting down on Remus' other side, did Sirius turn to James more. They told us that they had gone to primary school together, which was why they knew each other. I soon found out that Remus, while from an all wizarding family, didn't know any of the other wizarding children. He explained it away that he had grown up abroad for the most part. One of the three girls who were sorted into Gryffindor was a half-blood, the other two were wizarding children, but they had gone to Muggle primary schools. I was the only one who was from an all Muggle family. 

Hermione and Harry are coming home after having spent a few days at Hermione's parents. They find us in the small living room poring over the Pensieve. 

"Hello, everyone!" Harry calls. 

Then he starts and notices what's going on. We come out of the Pensieve. Sirius grins and we all greet the young people. 

"What's the topic in there?" Harry asks.

Since we all grin he knows it can't be anything too bad. Sirius confirms it:

"First year at Hogwarts."

"Oh, are we allowed in?" Hermione asks immediately.

"Sure, if you want to see this..." 

The two hasten to take off their coats and put their bags on an armchair in the front room, then they join us. We plunge into another memory.


	8. More memories, New Year's Eve and an announceme

**Tuesday, 29.12.1998 / Harry**

We come home and find them all huddled over... Sirius' Pensieve. Oh dear! What could they be seeing in there? They tell us it's their first year at school, so Hermione and I are welcome to join them. 

>> It's late evening in the dormitory. I can see the four beds around the walls, two opposite of two others, and I notice that Remus and Sirius have their beds next to each other and Sirius is opposite of Dad, while Remus is on the other side of Peter. They seem to be sleeping, but Sirius is awake, the hangings on his four poster slightly parted while he looks over to Remus' bed. There too, the curtains are parted for a bit. He looks tiny in the huge bed and only the top of his head, his eyes and his nose look out of the comforter. What a cute child that was. Sirius seems to think so, too, because he sighs, finally gets up and closes the curtains of Remus' bed again. He pads back to his own bed, pulls the curtains and covers himself. He's a pretty child, too. 

The memory shifts to a morning in the dorm, they're waking up and Sirius opens the bed curtains to scream.

"Rise and shine, everybody, the day has started!"

He jumps out of the bed like a maniac, races around the dorm to pull the curtains on the other beds open, finally runs and is the first in the shower. I stay out of the bathroom and watch Remus, who opens his curtains fully, stretches while he sits up slowly and then moans.

"Darn it, Sirius, do you need to scream around every morning?"

Sirius is back from the shower only ten minutes later, a towel around his middle, sopping hair which he shakes out so the others will have their measure of the water in them and drops the towel to get some fresh underwear out of his cupboard. He doesn't seem to give a damn that he's completely naked. Remus stares at him, then gets up, picks up his clothes and is off to the showers himself, while James and Peter only just climb out of their beds. 

"Morning, Sirius!" James yawns.

"Morning, James! Peter! Come on, guys, it's time, get dressed and come to breakfast!" 

Morning person. Definitely. But that might have changed in the course of time, he's not that chipper in the morning anymore. Or is that because of the twins now?

>> Sirius waits for Remus to come from the shower, grabs his book-bag and the two of them climb down the stairs to the common room.

"We keep some places for you two slow-pokes!" Sirius calls, then they're off.

"Nutter!" James mutters and finds his way to the shower. 

We all follow Sirius and Remus down the stairs. With his usual exuberance he pounds ahead down the stairs, through the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall. Remus is fairly close behind him, though he does it with much more grace and elegance in his movements. Christ, it's no wonder, Sirius fell for him, he was such a beautiful child. There's not a bit of baby-fat remaining, he's slender, almost thin, though still very small. His face a perfect stretched oval, slightly pale and topped with neatly combed blond hair. They sit down next to each other, grab some bowls and fill their plates. Sirius piles about three pieces of toast next to his plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages and digs in. Remus takes it slower and again he is so much more graceful, while he fills his plate and butters some toast. They've almost finished by the time my Dad and Peter have joined them at the table. Sirius talks of the day's classes. James thinks of pranking the Slytherins. 

"If only we knew where their common room is..." Peter says.

"We could find out..." James says in a conspiratorial voice. 

Sirius starts to grin. He looks positively thrilled and nods at James.

"Let's discuss that tonight in our dormitory, there's too many who could overhear us here..." he suggests.

"Yeah, that would certainly be better," Dad admits.

The memory dissolves and we're in the next one. They've returned to the dormitory and dropped their school things. Dad digs around in his trunk and brings forth the Invisibility Cloak. Remus stares at it.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asks in a hushed voice.

"Well, that depends on what you do think it is..." Dad says cheerfully.

"I'm thinking Invisibility Cloak..." Remus says.

James smirks, Peter looks up, surprised.

"Really? Wow, they're really rare! Where did you get it, James?"

"Yep, it's an Invisibility Cloak. I've already told Sirius that I have one and we've put it to good use at our old school once or twice..."

"...or a dozen times," Sirius butts in, laughing.

"My grandfather gave it to me. Said he needed to undermine my parents' efforts on bringing me up seriously for a bit. He was a bit of a mischief maker himself, you know. No idea why he never gave it to my Dad..."

"Come on, let's see if we can all be covered by it!" Sirius cries and jumps from the bed.

They are all still small enough that this is the case. 

I laugh watching them trying to walk in a whole bunch.

"Funny eh?" Dad asks. 

"Yep, absolutely. I think this thing is shrinking and growing depending on the amount of people who are using it. In our first year Hermione and I smuggled a baby dragon in a cage through Hogwarts underneath it."

"What?" Mum and Dad say as one.

"Story for some other time..." Hermione says.

>> The memory picks up a while later, the four boys are invisible, but since we are close they must be there somewhere. A group of Slytherins passes them and we're bound to follow the invisible four down the staircase to the dungeons. The Slytherins stop in front of a wall and give the wall the password, loud enough for Remus to pick it up easily. After a while the memory seems to be replaced by another one, because the students gather in the Great Hall for breakfast again. 

"Now I can't wait for the outrage," Peter whispers.

"Neither can I!" Sirius confirms. 

The outrage in the form of many infuriated Slytherins who come into the great hall with red and gold hair. The students who are already in the Great Hall start to giggle and laugh and by the time the teachers are all there the whole student body is laughing outright. But the originators of the prank can't be identified and the four boys are spared a detention and point losses. 

There are a lot of memories containing small pranks now. The Marauders start roaming the castle at night and discover the kitchens. It's fun to see them finding out about the house-elves and gaining allies in the little creatures. The next step are finding several secret passages. Here are a few close calls with ghosts or Peeves and with Filch. Hermione and I stare as he already had Mrs Norris, but the cat seems to be still very young. Thanks to their discovery of more and more secret passages the boys usually get away. 

It's time to take the twins to bed. They've been watched by Winky and Dobby. Sirius has pulled us out of the memories to take notes and we've gone in and out of the Pensieve. Everyone remembers some details and the roll of parchment grows and grows while Sirius' Dictaquill writes down what he tells it to. Once the two little ones are sleeping we all return to the Pensieve. Sirius extracts the memories we've visited and discards them, then he adds more. We know that he's covering a happy time in his life and we gladly share this with him, his eyes are full of mirth as he watches his and his friends' adventures at Hogwarts. 

**Hermione**

>> They sit in the common room, doing their homework. We see Professor McGonagall coming through the portrait hole calling James away. He leaves, but is back only a short time later, with a face frozen to a mask. Sirius, Remus and Peter jump up immediately and surround him, to ask what is going on, but he only nods up to their dormitory. When they reach it, he breaks down and cries:

"My grand-parents have been found dead in their house! With a strange mark above it: a green skull from which a snake protrudes. That was two days ago."

Harry and I gasp. We look at James, Lily, Sirius and Remus who of course knew what this memory was about, at least the men did. Lily probably only learned about it later. 

"Anyway, I have to leave for a few days - for the funeral they say and that my parents wanted the family to be together. It's Christmas in a few days anyway, so I'll be back after that..."

"James! I don't know what to say! You just told us so much about your grand-father!" Remus says and looks saddened.

"Yeah, I know. And now he's dead! I loved the old man. He was always laughing!"

"Who would do such a thing? And what about that mark?" Sirius asks fiercely.

"I don't know, Sirius. Maybe they tell me. Then I'll tell you back."

James packs some stuff into his trunk and Sirius helps him bring it down through the portrait hole. Professor McGonagall waits there, patiently and says with her lips pressed to a thin line:

"Come, Potter, we get you downstairs, your father is waiting at Professor Dumbledore's office."

"Yes, Professor. See you after the break, guys!"

"Bye, James! We're sorry!" Sirius calls after him.

"Bye James!" Remus and Peter say in unison.

The next memory shows Sirius, Remus and Peter at the Gryffindor table and Professor McGonagall noting down the names of the students who stay at Hogwarts over the break. It turns out that only Peter is going home, Remus and Sirius both stay. Sirius has not the slightest inclination to join his stiff family at Christmas which to him is about the worst time every year. He fears the day he has to go home for the summer vacation already. Remus' reason to stay is that his parents have something going on and he cannot go home. The memory dissolves and then we meet Sirius all alone in the library, poring over some books. When I get closer he looks up some Dark Creatures. I suppose he started to suspect that something is wrong with Remus. But he hasn't quite found the link yet. In the next few memories it's clear that Remus and Sirius seem to have quite a good time all alone in Gryffindor Tower. They get the good squashy sofas in front of the big fireplace. Remus is reading a lot. When Sirius isn't pestering him to do something together. And Remus looks very lively when they go outside to play in the snow. 

There's a lot to note down for the memoirs from these few memories in their first year alone. Sirius' Dictaquill almost starts to smoke as it follows the dictating from all of us. It's fun in a way, but I'm well aware that these must be some of Sirius' happiest memories, the ones he only had to stash away in Azkaban, which he is pulling to the foreground of his mind now. He's extracting memories by the month now, as there is more and more. This is for both himself and Remus and they plan to write this part of the book together, right up to the bitter break in their lives. 

He's cleared the Pensieve and we go in for the next instalment. 

>> We find ourselves back in Hogwarts, back in the Gryffindor Tower. It's the last day of the Christmas vacation, Sirius tells us and Remus looks at his younger self, wondering why no one ever made any kind of remark about the adoring looks with which he's watching Sirius. 

James makes one now: "Remus, don't tell me you were already in love with Sirius in our FIRST year?! Why did no one ever see how you looked at him?"

Remus blushes. Sirius looks at him and plants a quick kiss on his cheek. He just smiles and replies in Remus' stead: "Well, if HE wasn't in love with me by then I certainly was in love with him. Just didn't know it yet."

>> Tiny Remus is blushing, too, when he notices Sirius looking back at him. Sirius is sitting on the floor, reading a book while leaning on the sofa next to Remus, who sits with one leg tucked under the other. He looks so cute I want to go and cuddle him! Remus has a book open, too, but he's not reading. He's staring down at Sirius instead. And blushes again, when Siri notices the glances. The quaint picture is rapidly disturbed when the common room is invaded by the returning students, coming from the train, all flushed and ready to start the next term. James is one of the first to come in, still a bit subdued, but happy to be reunited with his friends. He smiles widely when he sees them in front of the fire. They are jumping up to welcome him back. While they go up to the dormitory Sirius and Remus ask him, if he's feeling better. 

"Not much, but I will. It's just so hard to miss them, especially at Christmas! They had already bought my present! It made me cry again when I opened it, but Mum and Dad felt the same, so it wasn't a very happy Christmas. How was it for you guys?"

"Oh, just fine. There was only one table for all, right in the middle of the Great Hall! The teachers who stayed on ate together with us students. They were a lot more easygoing than normally!" Sirius said.

"We've had a really good time! There was even a Christmas tree here in the common room. The house-elves just removed it a couple of days ago," Remus added.

"That's great! You know what? How about we all stay on next year, then Sirius won't be alone and we'll be together!" James offers.

"That's a bloody good idea, James!" Peter said. "Only I might have to go home again. My parents think, Christmas is the family holiday and that families should be together."

The memory ends here. The next one that comes up takes place in the transfiguration classroom. Minerva teaches them the usual first year transfigurations and it's fun to see the ease with which James and Sirius go about their tasks. Remus and Lily do their job very well, too, though they have a few more unsuccessful attempts, but Remus' pincushion really is a pincushion, while Peter's still has the whiskers of the hedgehog and the odd quills. Sirius laughs himself silly when he sees it, but then he guides Peter's hand so that he doesn't tremble and helps him with the spells. Minerva sees it, but she doesn't seem to mind, though at the end she gives Sirius three extra points and Peter some extra homework. There are many images like that in the next few memories. One class with Professor Flitwick it's Remus and Lily who help Peter and then in the next potions lesson it's James who partners with Peter, while Sirius works with Remus who's not the best in potions. Remus at least understands the theory perfectly well, but the scents of all of those ingredients almost suffocate him. 

By the end of the evening we've reached the Easter holiday. After the notes have been taken down of that we decide to call it a night and to continue the next day. 

**Wednesday, 30.12.1998 / Hermione**

It's funny that without saying anything we all find back to the living room after breakfast to continue going through Sirius' memories. He smiles when he notes Harry and I are there as well. 

"Do you really want to spend your time with that old stuff?" he asks.

"Yes, sure! It's nice to see all that!"

"Wait till it gets embarrassing again..." he mumbles.

>> But the first memory isn't embarrassing for Sirius. It's at the end of the school year and it's embarrassing for Remus, because it's one of those times he has to lie to them about the reason he has to leave the school yet again. Sirius watches him while he leaves after the last lesson, with his bag slung over his shoulder. He decides to follow his friend and finds out he vanishes in the hospital wing. Sirius shakes his head and returns to the Gryffindor tower. He puts his books away and follows James and Peter down to dinner. 

"Why would Remus say that he's got to go home and see his Mum and then vanish in the hospital wing?" Sirius asks while they eat.

"Did he?" James asks back.

"Yeah. I followed him today and he went to Madam Pomfrey. He's vanishing about once month, have you noticed? And each time he comes back all pale. I'm worried!"

James looks up from his plate.

"You're right, it's about once a month. Could he be ill or something?"

"I don't know. I've been thinking and thinking about it, but..."

All of a sudden Sirius halts, thinks for a moment and then:

"Tonight's a full moon."

"And?"

"...I have to go and check on something. I'm not very hungry anyway, see you guys back at the dorm!"

Sirius throws his napkin on the table, drops his fork and knife and runs out of the Great Hall. He doesn't stop until he's reached the library, where he goes straight to the regular Dark Arts section and looks for a book. He pulls it from the shelf, sits down and catches his breath while he leaves through the pages and finally finds what he's been looking for. He nods, takes the book and passes Madam Pince to check the book out.

"Here you are, Black!"

"Thank you, Madam Pince!" he says with a smile and rushes off, back to the dorm. 

He finds his page again and starts to read until James and Peter are back from dinner. When they come into the room he looks up and says:

"I think, Remus is a werewolf."

Peter laughs.

"You must be kidding, Sirius! He can't be a werewolf, they'd never allow one to come to school!"

"All the symptoms are there. Moody when the moon is almost full, tired too, pale, skinny beyond anything, very active when the moon is new and whenever he comes back from being away he looks like someone has really beaten him up."

James has wide eyes, too.

"That's all very true..." he whispers.

Then he looks out of the window. It's still light outside, and the moon hasn't risen yet, but he thinks back and says:

"It's really been once a month he's vanished. He's given us excuses!"

"Lies!" hisses Peter.

"Now really, Peter, would you just walk up to someone and say you're a werewolf?" James says.

"No, I wouldn't. But I wouldn't go where other people are. Werewolves are Dark Creatures, dangerous and, well you see how Remus lies to us..."

"Stop it right there, Peter!" Sirius falls in, "Remus is the kindest guy in the whole school, how can you say something so ugly?"

"He's deceptive, isn't he?" Peter insists.

"I would be deceptive, too, if I had to see people who are my friends turning on me, just because I am a werewolf! Honestly, what's different in Remus today than yesterday? If he really is a werewolf, that is, we don't know yet."

"Different? I don't care if anything's different, but he could kill all of us!" Peter cries.

"Aw, come on, Peter, obviously he's going somewhere for the full moon transformation that's outside of the castle. Sirius saw him vanish in the hospital wing, so Madam Pomfrey probably knows about it. What's the problem? He's only a wolf one night every month! Do we stop being friends with him after he's been so nice to all of us all the time? You especially, where would you be in Charms if not for Remus? And in History. And in Herbology for that matter. Not to speak of Astronomy," James says. 

Peter blushes. Remus has not only been helping during lessons, he's the one who sits patiently by his side to go through his homework, where Sirius and James are too antsy to sit still for that long. 

It seems to be later. The sun has set, the moon is out and all of a sudden, Sirius, who sits on the window seat sighs and says:

"Poor, poor Remus! What must he go through?"

He looks out sadly. 

"I wonder where he is," James whispers.

"Yeah, me too. It was almost turning my stomach, when I read about how they transform, James! It must be so painful!"

The boys go to bed after discussing it for a little while. They have decided to talk with Remus and tell him that they don't mind. Peter still isn't convinced, but Sirius' final argument that Remus could have killed them any old time in the past eight months if he had wanted to do that finally hits home. 

It's not astonishing that the very next memory coming up is the next evening, when they see Remus in the dormitory again and confront him. Sirius does the talking. 

"You look pale, Remus, are you okay?"

"Yes, Sirius, it's nothing, I'm just a bit tired."

"There's something we'd like to ask you, Remus. We've been doing some thinking. You've been gone once a month since we started school and yesterday we noticed that it was the full moon, so we looked it up - well, we thought the symptoms are all there, so we suspected that you're a werewolf..."

"What?! No!" Remus is wide awake now, his eyes are wide open and he's shaking.

"Is it true?" James asks.

Remus tries to deny it for a moment, but then he slumps on his bed and starts to cry, nodding. Sirius immediately goes over to his bed and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Remus, we just wanted to know, there's nothing to cry about. We won't tell others. You're our friend!"

With a sniffle, Remus dares to look up to Sirius, who's all sincere. 

"Are you sure? You're not having me on?"

"No, Remus, we're not having you on, you've been a good friend until now, so why should that change, just because we know you're a werewolf?"

Remus shakes his head and shrugs his shoulder.

"So - we're not telling. Were have you been?"

Remus nods to the window.

"There's the Whomping Willow. It covers an underground passage to a house near Hogsmeade. I can't get out there and no one can get in. Madam Pomfrey takes me to the passage and once I'm inside there I can't get out until she comes and gets me back in the morning after I transformed back."

Now the boys ask him all sorts of questions and he has to tell them about how it happened and how he survived and lots of other things. 

I throw a glance at Remus. Sirius has put his arm around his lover's shoulder and holds him close. It's a very touching moment, one that I have tried to imagine a few times. I think, Sirius handled this very well.

>> They let Remus sleep, because he looks very tired, but not before they all promise to take notes in class for him whenever he has to miss lessons. It's amazing how the next memories show us a much more outgoing Remus in many ways. He's not as boisterous as the other three, but he becomes more cheerful. A further memory is of Minerva, who approaches all four boys at the Gryffindor table and tells them:

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see the four of you in his office right after classes this afternoon. Do you know how to find it?"

Remus does. 

"Very well. Then remember the password: plum pudding."

"Yes, Professor."

They're all four very subdued for the rest of the lunch and slink off to classes. The memory shifts on to them standing in front of the gargoyle which covers the headmaster's office. Finally Sirius sighs.

"There's nothing for it. Plum pudding!" he says to the gargoyle who springs to the side. They go in and mount the staircase that takes them up to the office. 

Remus leads them to the big oak door and they knock. The door opens and Dumbledore calls them inside.

"Come in, come in, boys! - Don't worry, you are not in trouble! Please take a seat!"

There's a sofa and two armchairs and they sit down shyly, still thinking that some kind of a punishment waits for them.

"I have called you up because I am aware that you three, James, Sirius, Peter, have gained some knowledge about your dorm-mate. Is that true?"

"About Remus being a werewolf?" Sirius asks.

He's sitting next to Remus and looks fondly at his friend. 

"Indeed."

"We're not telling anyone, Professor, he's our friend!" James promises.

"If you three are willing to keep his secret, then you would do him a real service. Remus is an incredibly talented magical child and we thought it would be very encouraging if he would be granted a full magical education. We expected that it would be difficult to hide his condition from his dorm-mates for a long time so we have observed you very closely. - You have a very bright mind, Sirius, that you have concluded Remus' condition from his symptoms so soon. I did want to let you children know that I am aware of your knowledge about Remus. And that's all I needed to tell you. You can return to Gryffindor tower."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore!" they all say politely.

Dumbledore smiles at them and they jump up, looking relieved that it's nothing worse. 

**Sirius**

What a fond memory that one is! It's been wonderful to see Remus change from his covert self to a more cheerful boy, eager to learn and often with a sparkle in his eyes in classes. Remus was such a bright soul, a wonderful child and I only wish I'd have known him even earlier, I'm quite sure I'd have loved him even earlier as well. And for such a long time we didn't know that our close friendship was so much more! 

>> One of the next memories is the trip back to London on the Hogwarts Express. We're all together in a compartment of course and Remus tells us his parents are taking him back to Switzerland for the summer vacation. James expects to go on a vacation with his parents and Peter knows he'll be out for visits to relatives all summer long. I'm remaining very silent, because I know that there will be no such things for me. I'll have to endure my family again. And no Uncle Alphard for relief, because they have cut him from visiting me. He's told me in a letter about that. 

"Poor Siri! You'll have to hang around Grimmauld Place for the whole summer, won't you?"

"Probably. I wish I could come and visit you guys... but I suppose that none of you is on the list of people my parents deem worthy and those who are I don't want to see. You know them. So they'll probably be at Grimmauld Place, especially when Bellatrix will be there."

"If only we could get you out of there," says Peter, "Even visiting my great-aunts is better than that!"

James and Remus grin. 

When we get to King's Cross station my mother waits on the platform. Since she detests 'mingling' with Muggles she has a Portkey ready. I hardly get time to say goodbye to my friends when I'm already pulled away and handed the Portkey. A minute later I'm landing in the hall of No 12, Grimmauld Place. She's back there just as fast. I drag my trunk up to my room and don't show my face until it's time to go to dinner. There's hardly any welcome from my father and both my parents are tight lipped, especially because I have been sorted into Gryffindor. 

"You're a disgrace, Sirius! You couldn't even get yourself into the family's esteemed house at Hogwarts! We have been the laughing stock for our friends for weeks!" my father complains.

"I'm happy where I am," I dare say, "I didn't want to be where Bellatrix and Severus and them all went. The Sorting Hat said I was fit for any of the four houses and put me in Gryffindor."

As usual that's the wrong thing to say, but I don't really care. I know what I have to expect in the next weeks, so why wait. At least I said what I meant. 

It's still very painful to witness - and feel again - what made for my home life as a child. Seeing this particular memory reminds me of my vow never to treat my own children like that. I know I will have to discipline them, but I will definitely keep it on the absolutely needed minimum. 

>> I am punished - as usual. It's the whip again and my father doesn't even care that he ruins my clothes and that I will have to get something new, since I don't have many Muggle clothes. Today I wouldn't even have needed them. After about a dozen whip-lashes I lose consciousness. 

**Harry**

I can't believe what I'm seeing! My heart rushes out to Sirius! My goodness, and I thought I had it bad with the Dursleys! At least they only made me feel useless and forced me to work. Sirius' parents made him feel useless and close to killed him. 

>> When Sirius passes out he's being levitated up to his room and dumped on the bed. He moans, but doesn't wake from his coma. The t-shirt he's wearing has been torn to shreds. He's bleeding all over his back and his shoulders and they just leave him in this state in a rather dusty looking room. It's hard to watch. If that's how they welcome him home I dread how the rest of those eight weeks will unfold!

The next memory that comes up is certainly many hours later. The room seems to have the afternoon sunlight and from that I think it's at least twenty-four hours later. Sirius starts to move again. He must feel awful! He moans and tries to pull the shreds of his t-shirt away. That must hurt even more, because in the meantime the blood has dried and the shreds stick to what's left of his skin. He winces and pulls. Most of the fabric comes off, but so does the remaining skin and the wounds start to bleed again. Sirius falls back on the bed and passes out again. Not long after that his mother comes inside and waves her wand, so that the rest of the shreds are gone and the wounds are healed. I can't understand what she mutters, but it can't be nice. A moment later a house-elf deposits something to eat on Sirius' desk. 

Then a few days seem to pass without incident. Sirius stays in his room for most of the time. He's down in the kitchen for some breakfast and vanishes in his room for the day, then he has to endure dinner. His brother looks very smug when Sirius gets snide remarks. What a difference between this subdued child and the bright exuberant one at Hogwarts! Sirius has his owl as his only consolation. He writes some letters and Tom is clever enough to bring any replies directly to Sirius' window. I can see that someone sends him books to read, which he takes care to send back after he's read them.

Somehow he manages to get three other beatings. Unreasonable and cruel punishments. There are some formal gatherings he has to attend and there he meets the whole gang of his cousin's Slytherin friends and has to endure them or he gets cursed. In fact, the second time he decides to sneak out, but gets caught by his mother and promptly cursed with boxing hexes which knock him straight out. Much to the amusement of Snape and company. Somehow I can understand why he hates Snape so much. 

His mother takes him to Diagon Alley to get the new school robes, as he's grown out of his old ones and his school books. It's probably the first time during these vacations he is outside. Not for long. He's shoved into the floo in the Leaky Cauldron and gets hauled back 'home'. I can hardly bear looking at this anymore. I'm relieved when I can finally watch how Sirius packs his trunk and is Portkeyed back to King's Cross station. He drags his trunk to the train and manages to get it inside. He doesn't even look back at his mother who doesn't linger. When he notices that she's gone he leaves the train again to look for his friends. I can see Dad coming through the barrier with what I can only presume are my grand-parents. They look like a very happy and merry family. James sees Sirius and takes a leap, running to his friend and hugging him. And finally there's a real smile and a grin on Sirius' face again. Especially when Remus comes through the barrier with his parents. He finds his friends and guides his parents there.

"Mum, Dad, these are my friends, Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew..."

"Hello, you three! We've heard nothing but Remus talking a mile a minute about you boys all summer long! You seem to have become friends very quickly," Mrs Lupin says.

The boys shake hands with the Lupins, then Mr. Lupin recognises my grandfather and greets him:

"Marcus Potter! I haven't seen you in ages, how are you?"

"Oh, that's you, Quintus! James talked about Remus, but I haven't put two and two together. It's great to see you. So you have been allowed into Hogwarts, Remus! That's very good, very good indeed. - No, don't worry, James hasn't said a thing, only because of your father I knew. I used to work in his department at the Ministry, you know. And my lips will be sealed!"

Remus looks relieved. It's time to board the train though and they all sit together in a compartment again. While Remus, James and Peter talk of their summer's adventures Sirius remains almost silent. The others know that he hasn't much to say. 

**Remus**

I remember that first train ride together painfully well. Sirius was silent for most of it. Only when we start to talk about Quidditch and some plans we had drafted in our letters he woke from his trance like state. I was very worried about him. I think he must have been lonely right in the middle of the circle of his friends. Something was definitely wrong with him, but in those days I had no idea what. When I see these memories of his home life now I have to say that the werewolf transformations were certainly bad, but I've grown up being loved to bits by both my parents and they were never shy to show me, so I was off a lot better than Sirius. I suppose if he'd said he was cold they'd put a warming charm on him and if he'd said he was lonely they would have shoved him in the lion's den of the Slytherins in his year. Or give him a lot of new things. Sirius had a state of the art new broom in his trunk and he'd love to go flying right after we got to Hogwarts. I think, apart from the time we got to spend outside at school he's never really been out of that house. Grimmauld Place, Hogsmeade Primary School and Diagon Alley was all he ever saw before he came to Hogwarts. Oh, and a bit of the park near Grimmauld Place. What a wretched childhood. Add to that his parents' violence, BOTH his parents! and you get the picture of a real poor rich kid.

>> This must have been the first full moon night after the beginning of the new term. I'm absent, but Sirius, James and Peter huddle over a stack of books in the library until very late. Madam Pince finally throws them out and they climb back up to Gryffindor tower and our dormitory. Sirius sits on the window seat of one of the windows and stares outside, then he says:

"He's hurting out there! He's hurting and there's nothing I can do!"

"We'll find something, Sirius," James says. 

"You've heard Remus, there's no cure - nothing!"

"But there must be something that others have overlooked. We'll find something that will help him, we just have to keep searching."

"I want to be with him..." Sirius whispers, then: "Do you think we could go and see him before breakfast tomorrow?"

"We can try. Maybe Madam Pomfrey won't let us in though..."

The memory fades. The next one takes place right outside of the entrance to the hospital wing. My three friends scramble inside and an irritated Madam Pomfrey asks them what they want.

"Can we see Remus, please, Madam Pomfrey? We just want to wish him well..." James asks.

Sirius puts up puppy dog eyes.

"We know about Remus, he's told us, Madam Pomfrey, please let us see him."

Poppy's heart melts at the three boys and she lets them into my room. I'm still out of it and she tells them so.

"He's unconscious now, that was a hard transformation. I give you five minutes, then you're out of here and off to breakfast, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Peter says.

They're encircling my bed. Sirius takes my hand and says:

"Get well soon, Remus. We'll take all the notes for you. And we'll try to write so you can read it easily, too!"

"We come and see you at lunch or after the lessons in the afternoon if you're still here!" James promises.

The next memory is Sirius coming into the hospital wing at lunchtime and moving to my room. I'm still there and I've woken up in the meantime. He grins when he sees me awake and says:

"Hi! I just wanted to tell you to get well soon! I've taken all your notes. And brought you some chocolate from the kitchen!"

"Thanks, Sirius!"

"How are you now?"

"Bruised and pretty beaten up."

"Why do you hurt yourself?"

My younger self shrugs the shoulders.

"I'm losing all of my own mind when I'm transformed. The wolf wants out, wants to hunt. Because it finds nothing it runs against the walls and doors. And because I don't get to taste any blood I bite and scratch myself. That's why I'm pale. I lose a lot of blood. Madam Pomfrey gives me a potion to replenish it, but it takes about two days until that's done. Sometimes I have broken bones, too. She's healing those easily though."

Sirius winces.

"Don't worry, Sirius, I'm used to it, it's been seven years already."

"I can't help it, it sounds so painful!" 

We're pulling ourselves out of the Pensieve. That one was easier to take than I thought. Apart from what Sirius' parents did to him of course. I could still murder them for it! When the memories will come to the beginning of our sixth year I'll be really angry!

But the next group of memories contain one that I love most in retrospect. 

>> It must be another full moon, because Sirius, James and Peter are back in the library. They sneak around at night in there and go through to the Restricted Section. 

"Don't touch any of the books yet, Peter, we're just looking at the titles, okay? I've heard that some of those books can do horrible things!" James warns.

Peter stays back after that. But Sirius and James look around in the sector containing highly advanced transfiguration stuff.

"James! This here could be something, come and look! 'Secret of the Animagus'. I think I heard talk of Animagi. It's dangerous stuff though..."

"The book looks pretty normal."

Sirius takes it from the shelf. He opens it. Everything is still. He notes the title, author and position in the library in a notebook and puts it back on the shelf. James finds something else:

"'Shape shifting - Werewolves, Vampires, Veela and Animagi'. Looks like another good one."

James picks the book up, opens it and when nothing happens, Sirius notes the same details in his notebook. They work themselves through the whole sector and pick up anything that has to do with any form of shape shifting. When they seem to be through they start with the first two or three books and read half the night through, taking notes. Each of them has one of the books. 

"That's proof here, werewolves don't attack other animals, so we have to become Animagi! Once we can shift to an animal form we can be with Remus on the full moon nights," Sirius declares.

"But that's going to be so very difficult. I don't think I'll manage to pull that one off," Peter whines.

"Oh yes, you will! We all will, and if it takes us years to do it. But not a word to Remus! Not before we've done it, alright?" says James.

"Absolutely. He'd feel guilty and wouldn't want us to go through with it..." Sirius confirms.

Then they put the books back on the shelf and go back to their dorm. I think they have slept as little as I did that night. 

Many of the next memories show us pulling pranks, discovering the castle more intensely and the first draft of the secret passages drawn on a map, to help us remember where they are. There's much laughter while we go through these.

**Thursday, 31.12.1998 / Harry**

New Year's Eve! Everyone will be home; we have a party planned. Some of us go shopping while the others decorate the house and start on some of the food that we'll have in the evening. Sirius' Pensieve remains untouched today. But I still haven't forgotten the image of what he's had to take from his parents. I've looked at him with totally different eyes since then. I'm even more in awe about how he's turned out, I think, stepping beyond such a childhood must have cost a lot of nerves. I realise he's had Remus for a good part of his young adult life. What a huge impact must it have had to see his life crushed by a blow such as the murder of my parents, Sirius' best friends, and being accused of treason and murder himself and punished with a life sentence after such a childhood! I'm impressed even more at how Sirius has left it behind, how he's dealing with it. He knows what's amiss, he feels how he has to tackle it, but for a few years he had to push it to the back of his mind. He would have been lost in depression and despair had he tried to deal with it right after escaping from Azkaban. 

Today's Daily Prophet has a lengthy article about Fudge. It's his last day in office - at last, we can only say. He should have been replaced ten years ago, but at the latest four or five years ago. If not the only option for most wizards at that time would have been Lucius Malfoy. Now, luckily, the alternative is Amelia Bones. 

A bit further to the back I find something interesting. It's a story about something the Aurors work on together with the experimental Charms specialists at the Ministry. The goal is to fully destroy the Dementors and to replace them with special imprisoning spells. Test spells have already been constructed and are in the evaluation stage. Of course they're not explained, but their supposed effect is described in detail. I show the article to Sirius:

"Here, Siri, that should be something interesting for you!"

He reads over the article and looks content.

"Good! That's at least a first step in the right direction. Not that I think that the Death Eaters at Azkaban don't deserve a healthy dose of what I had to endure. But the wizarding justice sends ALL people to Azkaban, even for minor offences. That should stop when they have such a spell."

"Rather a group of spells, from what I can see here. It would probably take quite a lot to keep those people locked up. They still are magic after all..." Hermione comments.

"The question that remains is what to do with the obsolete Dementors. Can they be destroyed at all?" Sirius asks. 

"Actually they can be. By fire," says Remus.

"Ah yes? Interesting. But really, I think, I wouldn't want to watch. Should be awful to see..." Sirius says lightly. Dementors are still a touchy subject with him.

"I don't think it's even commonly known, Sirius, but I've seen it. It was an accident, though a welcome one for me. And that was a wild Dementor in Romania. Those can't even be bothered by a Patronus for longer than ten minutes. We don't have any of those on the British Isles anymore. I think, I'd give a first try with a simple Incendio or Conflagratio spell."

"Why didn't you tell me that when you first taught me the Patronus?" I ask, baffled.

"Because I couldn't exactly let you burn Ministry owned Dementors, Harry! Imagine how Fudge would have reacted on that."

"Too true, he would have been pissed off. You're right," I admit.

"Once the time comes when they will have to do it, I'll send Amelia the hint, that fire could be the very thing to get rid of them."

Remus' Commumirror rings. It's Draco, who wants to know if we have the champagne already.

"No, we're actually just ready to go shopping..."

"Okay, we're bringing the good stuff, you can cancel it from the shopping list!"

"Great! See you all later then!"

"I suppose it's okay if we bring Shannah and Vaidyanathan along, isn't it?"

"Absolutely! We'll find a suitable bed for the little one!"

"Good! See you all later then!"

It's going to be quite a big party tonight! I'm looking forward to it, because it will be good to relax with good food, good wine and loads of good conversation, a bit of dancing and most probably the night will be ended with a good shag. Morag apparates Nicole in. 

After the breakfast we split up in teams for the several trips to do the shopping and decorating, preparing the dinner table and babysitting. I've volunteered for the babysitting today. So I'm spending my time in the small living room watching over the twins and feeding them. 

**Hermione**

Harry's today's babysitter. I'm going off with Remus to do the grocery shopping. James and Lily help Sirius decorate the living room. Shortly after lunchtime Remus and I are back and unload the huge amount of foodstuff from the car to the kitchen. We've decided on a 'Fondue Chinoise', which everyone among us youngsters loved to bits, so it's a good opportunity to repeat it for once, as we didn't do this many times. There's a lot of vegetables to be cut, the meat is to be arranged on large platters, we have to make about a dozen different dips and relishes, salads are to be prepared and the wines made ready. There will be an aperitif, which Remus prepares, while Winky and Dobby help with the preparation of the dips. Most are based on a Mayonnaise, which I make myself, some are based on fresh cheese and sour cream, others are actually cooked. This will be a two course Fondue Chinoise, as we've bought specially cut fish of several kinds, and for those I'll have a broth of white wine mixed with water, salt, pepper and some onion slices for the first course. This broth will be thrown out for the second course, where it will be real beef broth, and the meat that will be cooked is lamb, veal, pork and beef, cut into very thin slices. Rolled up around a special long fork this is held into the broth and left to cook. For the dessert I'm back to making my Tirami-Su, some burnt cream and for those who like it, I'll have meringues, covered in traditional Swiss manner with a lot of whipped cream. And that's not going to be whipped cream from the can, no sir, that will be the real stuff. With greetings from the calories of course! Finally there will be a large cheese platter and some crackers to what's left of the red wine. During the long night we'll warm up the broths, which will be very rich, flavoured additionally with some Cognac and added marrow.

**Sirius**

Lily and I have fun in decorating the living room. We have little lights in all sorts of colours that blink all around the place. The table is covered with a tablecloth that we've charmed to glimmer in the same colours as the lamps overhead. We set the table with the dishes and charm them to different colours as well, then we place several little stoves along the table. Those will be used for the pots with the broth, to keep the fluid simmering. I'm checking the status of the little tanks holding the spirits and refill where necessary. Lily puts down the silverware and James brings the crystal glasses. We prepare a bar for the aperitif on one side of the room, with the appropriate glasses and bowls with crisps and salty peanuts and other nuts. Then we add streamers all over the place and on the table, over the chairs and along the railing of the staircase up to the library. As a final touch I add candles on the table leaving room for the platters of meat and the bowls of salad, vegetables and crisps. The smaller bowls with the dips will be spread across the remaining space. Then we add the napkins and look at our finished work.

"Looks good, don't you think?" James asks.

"Looks very nice! Well done!" Lily commends.

I'm going up to our room to get my clothes for the evening, then vanish in the bathroom to have a long soak in the bath before getting ready. When I come out again, freshly washed and all made up I find that several of the youngsters have already arrived, including Vaidyanathan and Shannah. I welcome them contently.

"Hey Sirius! How are you? Let us see your little ones right away, we've only seen photos of them so far!" Shannah says with a wide grin.

"Harry is looking after them, they're on the other side of the house, come with me! It's good to see you again! How are things for you?"

"Much better than two years ago, Sirius! We can live and work in peace again and that's worth a lot! But I probably don't need to tell you," Vaidyanathan says. 

Sadhu, five years old in the meantime, looks around the living room and says:

"This looks great!"

"Thanks, Sadhu! We've done some work today. And when you get tired we have a room and a bed for you, so you can go to sleep."

"We've got something to stay overnight, too, if you don't mind. As far as I remember you do have some space, don't you?" Vaidyanathan asks with a grin.

"Oh, you're most welcome! Takes the immense work of a spell to make a bed for you!"

We go over to the small living room, where Seraina and Denny are crawling around Harry. He looks a bit tired, my godson. But he doesn't complain! When he sees our guests he gets up to shake hands.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs Patil!" he says.

"Oh fiddle, Harry, you're old enough to call us with our first names now, we're Shannah and Vaidyanathan!"

"Very well, thank you. How do you do?"

"Just fine, Harry. You look swell yourself, I've heard you've started studying law?"

"That and history, yes."

"Good, we need people in that discipline," Shannah says.

I look down to my children and as soon as they discover me they come crawling. 

"Hello, my little ones! Have you been good kids with Harry?"

I pick them both up from the floor and present them to our guests.

"So, this is Remus' daughter Seraina. And this is my son Dennis. They're eight months old now."

"And busy crawling around as I see! That's wonderful. - Hey, you lovely young lady, would you come to me? I know I'm a total stranger, but you see, I'm longing to hold a baby again... my son's already that big now!" Shannah coos and I let her take Seraina from my arm.

Seraina always scrutinises people before accepting them, but I suppose something goes out from Shannah, as Seraina gives her a flash of her friendly smile and babbles something.

"Oh, just look at the lovely teeth you have there!"

"They're cute, Sirius! Well done!" says Vaidyanathan and grins. 

"Thanks! We're very happy about them, even though they're quite tiring. But it really is a great feeling to have a family with children now. Not that Remus and I aren't enough for each other, but it was amazingly satisfying to become a family. Somehow there was a hole filled of which we didn't even know it was there."

"I know the feeling. Parvati and Padma have been kind of an accident, but what a welcome accident! We keep teasing them about it, but in truth I can't wait for the first grandchild. Never mind that we had Sadhu so long after the twins."

"They seem to be both very happy with their partners, don't they?" I ask.

"Amazingly yes! Wouldn't have thought so. Draco and Parvati are pretty serious. There's more depth I would have thought in that young man. He's resourceful, too. That fun park is a huge project, but he's really doing fine work. Still has to learn a bit about the business world, but he's on a good way. And he doesn't need any other investors, he can really share it with the Weasley twins."

"We were pretty impressed with the work they've already done. Give it a year and the place will be open to the public. They aim for spring 2000."

We walk back to the large living room, officially releasing Harry from his duties, so he can go and wash up and get dressed. I set up a large playpen for the twins where they get enough toys to amuse themselves and a soft blanket and pillows to lay down. We'll have a good look over them every once in a while. I've placed Remus and I on one end of the table, where we have one of the twins on our side at the head of the table. 

Slowly but surely the room fills. Mandy brings Jason to the party. Neville comes in and presents us his date for the evening, a young witch he met in Diagon Alley named Hester Guthrie. That brings the party to twenty adults, three children, two house-elves and two ghosts. 

It was funny to see the Patils' reaction to James and Lily. Shannah and Lily had been pretty good friends in school, they were both very like-minded, so Shannah is pleased to bits to be able to chat with her old friend again. 

Looking over the assembled friends and chosen family I'm getting butterflies fluttering in my stomach. It's just the thing I need. It really makes me forget my awful childhood and my horrible early adulthood. I'm 39 now and I think my life is really only starting. Before we sit at the table I'm pulling Remus close and kiss him deeply. He smiles and asks:

"That felt so important. What was it for?"

I grin.

"I'm happy. Just wanted to share. I'm really feeling so well that I can hardly find the words to describe it. But I've just thought that all the trouble and pain was worth it to find this here."

He nods, suddenly serious.

"Yes, I think I'd go through all of it again, if I knew that this is at the end of it. And it's really only a start, isn't it?"

"Abso-fuckin'-lutely, my love. Come, let's grab our little ones and put them in the high chairs."

The two are presiding over the table. They won't get any meat yet, but we have some of the vegetables cooked in the broth for them and they're allowed some fish. That one is cooked magically and without the alcohol of course. They don't bemoan it though and grab the food with their little hands. That's always fun to watch. Shannah, who sits next to me, looks at them and comments:

"That's rather unconventional..."

I grin.

"My discovery. They are busy, not bored and we can eat mostly in peace."

"Clever boy!"

**Draco**

The living room is comfortably full with that amount of people. I'm looking over one end of the table and see Dobby and Winky, who are eating with us. That would be something for my parents! They'd cry 'outrage!!!' and would probably kill the house-elves if they'd even dared come closer than two metres. In the meantime I've long since apologised to Dobby for my father's treatment of him. Heck, even for my own treatment of him, though I don't think I've ever been cruel. My father was cruel all the time. We must have gone through dozens of house-elves. 

I turn to Parvati and whisper:

"Hey, imagine us here ten years from now. An extra table for all the kids who will be around will probably be needed, what do you think?"

She laughs softly. She doesn't know yet, but I've got something in the pocket of my robes for her. I'm just waiting for the last minute before the new year. For two months I've done my soul searching and now I know that I'm ready for the commitment. Merlin, I haven't even looked at another witch since I've been with Parvati, and that's three years now, so why should I wait longer? 

The food, as usual here, is great! This is such a wonderful way of eating, you can't hurry it, you have to wait for your meat or veggies to cook in the broth and that gives you lots of time to chat. It's a casual dinner, everyone is fairly high spirited. Time passes quite nicely, the table is cleared for dessert and coffee. Sirius brings on two nice bottles of Kirsch and Vieille Prune, the coffee is steaming and Hermione's sensational desserts come floating out of the kitchen. Gods, there's so much lovely stuff I don't even know which to choose. 

"Take some of everything, sweetie," Parvati suggests.

"Don't moan about me gaining weight, love! I think I really cant's say no to the Tirami-Su. If I still have room I'll move to the meringue."

I do hope, Harry knows what he has with Hermione! Mrs Potter has a gift with desserts! Remus feeds some of the burnt cream to his son. Denny's face is sheer bliss! I laugh when he squeals and gestures to Remus' bowl. 

"So, do you think that some of the kids you can see here in ten years will be yours, Draco?" Parvati asks. 

I almost choke. But then I think there's never a better time than now. 

"Ours?" I ask. 

And I pull out the little box containing a nice ring and hand it to her. I take her hand, look in her eyes and add:

"If you'd do me the honour and move up from being my lover to being my wife?"

She looks straight into my eyes and gasps a little, but then she smiles and says:

"It would be hard to say no to that promotion, Draco. Yes, I'd love to..."

Then we both grin. Neville on Parvati's other side and Padma on my other side have realised what's going on. 

"Hey, watch for those two here! They want to hear wedding bells!" Neville shouts and grins.

"Congratulations, Parvati and Draco!"

My future parents-in-law turn to us. Vaidyanathan looks a bit startled, but then smiles. 

"Decided to get serious, now, have you? Congratulations, you two!"

I'm relieved. It looks like we'll have their blessing. The whole table starts turning to us now, as I put the ring on Parvati's finger. It's a nice gold band with a large diamond, circled with rubies. She stares at it, then turns back and embraces me. Her kiss is as sweet as ever and I know now what Harry felt. He and Hermione are grinning widely.

"Oh great, someone else who's going to get married, we're not the only ones anymore, Hermione!" Harry says and shows me the thumbs up. 

In the end we almost miss the beginning of the new year. Remus and Sirius have just returned from taking their children to bed. Sirius starts opening two bottles of nicely chilled champagne, pours them into the glasses and we all rise from the table to get one. And then we celebrate the new year and our engagement. It's a wonderful party and both of us feel comfortable to have this group of people with us on this night, people who cherish us like we cherish them. 

**Remus**

What a lovely surprise! I wouldn't have expected Draco and Parvati to be the next ones to announce their engagement. But it's nice that he's so sure about her. I do hope this marriage will work out. 

An hour into the new year, Sirius and I decide to go to bed. We wish them all a nice remainder of the evening and move up to our room. The big living room has been sound proofed, so that no noise can get out. After we're through the door to the kitchen we hear nothing of the party anymore. We check on the two little ones who are sound asleep and close the door behind us to undress and go to bed. I'm laying my clothes on a chair and turn to my lover who pulls me into his arms.

"Hello, my love! How about we two have a little fun of the best kind?" he asks.

"Well, come to think of it I was going to suggest the same thing, so you'd better get rid of those garments real quick, lover!" I reply coyly.

"Consider it done."

He uses a disrobing spell. I'm grinning and point out:

"You got that one from me..."

"You've always been my best teacher, sweetheart."

I love it when he makes compliments like that. But I have no patience for verbal foreplay now, I want to get right to the real thing and pull him on the bed. I let myself fall backwards, manoeuvring him on top of me. Sirius grins. He knows that this means I want him to be the one who does all the 'work' tonight. I can already feel his cock getting stiff and when it touches mine I'm hard in no time. Sirius straddles me properly and we both move up, so we're fully on the bed. He bends down to kiss me and I can feel his arms enfolding me in a hug. I close my eyes for a moment. I know I'm quite tired, but I want this. Sirius moves from my mouth to my ear, licking it tenderly and slowly. I let my hands wander, starting with my fingers raking through his hair, which I gently push out of his face, then I glide over his neck to his shoulders. 

I draw a long, deep breath and pull him close for another kiss. He thrusts his tongue into my mouth and duels with mine. It's going directly down to where it feels best, sending little shocks of pleasure through my body. I can feel the muscles on his back under my hands. They react to what he feels, twitch under my touch and from his lust. He rolls off me, turns on his side next to me, still kissing me, but now his hands start roaming over my body. I turn to my side as well, so he can spoon me. He pushes his right arm under my neck and holds me close. I lean my head on his arm, turn my face up, so we can kiss again. 

"Gods, I love you, sweetheart," he mumbles between kisses. 

His left hand wanders down to my cock. He gently starts to stroke it. I can feel his erection stick into the back of my thighs, but I can't reach it well in this position. Sirius moves to fondle my balls for a while. 'Yesssss...' Then he goes around my thigh and starts nudging my entrance. I push a bit against his finger, so he gets inside easily. It's so good that I'm closing my eyes again. 

"Gods, love, don't stop, or rather, come on, push inside! I so want that cock inside of me, please!" I moan. 

He summons the lubricant and smears some on his cock, while I hold the jar open for him. While he starts to insert his cock into my opening, I put the jar away again. 

"Yes, oh yes, love, come on, deep inside! Now push!"

Sirius holds me tight and starts to thrust. He picks up my cock again, while I'm pulling him even closer. He lasts for a long time, concentrates on finding that spot inside of me that will make me roll my eyes back and moan. Thank heavens for silencing charms! Because I won't last long, it's so, so good! Sirius though has a slow round in mind, he does push with a regular rhythm, but holds out. His hand is curled around my erection, stroking and pumping in the same rhythm he pushes. When we finally reach our climax, Sirius first, I'm following only a minute later, we're totally spent. Both of us still breathe hard and Sirius just turns me around for a kiss...

**Sirius**

...when one of the children cries. Oh dear! Remus is still fully out of it, so it will have to be me. I untangle myself from my lover and kiss him quickly, then I sit up. With a silent 'please, won't you stop by yourself, love?' I get up and rush over to see what's wrong. 

It's Denny. He's lost his pacifier and has woken up. I lift him up and hold him for a few minutes, but in the dark. He nuzzles into my chest, while I grope around his cot for the pacifier. 

"Ah! Here it is, love, now there, that's my good boy. Are you going to sleep again?" 

I'm caressing him over the head and kiss him tenderly, pick up his tiny teddy bear and push it into his arms. He grabs it and I hold him close for another while. Now he nuzzles his teddy. He's finally calmed so I can lay him down into the cot again. Our children wear sleeping bags, so there's only a light blanket to pull over him. I'm stroking once more over the little head and he sighs, then goes back to sleep. I quietly leave his room and return to our bed. Seraina hasn't heard her brother and is fast asleep still. When I reach our bedroom, Remus has fallen asleep, too. I put the lights out, pull up the duvet and spread it over both of us. Then I'm snuggling up to my lover and put my arm around him.


	9. New term, new teachers, more memories

**Friday, 1.1.1999 / Sirius**

I wake up exactly the same a few short hours later. I listen closer to the sound that woke me and start to smile. It's coming from my little daughter who babbles happily in her cot. Merlin, this is the sweetest thing I've ever heard. I wonder if we just missed that with Harry, or if he didn't do that at all. But it sounds so incredibly cute that I have to kiss Remus awake and when he looks up, I nod to Seraina's room.

"Shhh... listen!" I whisper.

As long as she sounds so content we just lie there and listen. Remus starts to smile. 

"She's so sweet," he whispers back.

I only nod. It's these little things that make our children precious to us. I suppose it's the same for all other devoted parents. After a while Remus and I get up silently and tip-toe over to Seraina's room. We've closed the connecting door again, so she'll have her room for herself. When we turn on the light we find her, lying on her back and playing with her teddy and still babbling. The moment she sees our faces she starts to grin, throws the teddy away and stretches out her arms. I bend down to lift her up.

"Good morning, my love! You look chipper today, Seraina. A very happy new year to you! That's your first, do you know that?"

She squeals happily and wants to be hugged by her Papa, too. Remus takes her from me and kisses her, too.

"Hello, my love. Did you sleep well? It's still a bit early, come, we'll take you with us."

Remus frees Seraina from the sleeping bag and takes her over to our bedroom. He slips back under the warm duvet, placing her next to himself. I follow swiftly and now we enjoy our very awake daughter for a while. She lifts her feet up and pulls them up to her mouth to suck on her toes. Then she lets them go again, wriggles around and finally turns around and lands on her stomach. Now she starts exploring and grabs my long hair.

"Ouch! Not so hard, Seraina!" I protest.

Remus gently gets her hands out of my hair and I sit up quickly to braid it loosely and fix it. If she still pulls on the braids it won't hurt so much now. After about half an hour I say:

"I think, I'm going to take a bath..."

"You could take Seraina in for a while. She smells like she needs it," Remus says.

"Sure. Will you bring her in a while?"

"Yes, I will. Need to clean her a bit before. You're not exactly smelling like roses, my love."

Seraina grins. I get out of the bed and pull my dressing gown on, tie the sash and go down to prepare the bath, while Remus takes care of our daughter. I'm lounging comfortably in the hot water, when Remus brings Seraina into the bathroom. The baby is completely naked already. She squeals of pleasure when I hold her in the water. That's of course until I start washing her hair, but for the rest she enjoys to sit on my belly, held up by my thighs. We splash lightly in the water and I tickle her. For Christmas we got both children an amber necklace, which is supposed to help babies teething. She looks really cute only wearing this. She pats my chest, where there's a thin film of water and watches in delight as the water splashes away. I hand her a sponge, which she takes to her mouth first.

"Ewww... Seraina, that sponge is for washing!" I say.

She just smiles and tries to bite off some of the sponge. I have to take it away from her mouth about five more times. Then a flash of light disturbs us and Remus grins.

"That looked too funny!" he remarks. 

And goes on to take a few more photos of a happy Seraina, climbing around on Daddy and splashing water at both her Daddy and her Papa. After a while Remus puts the camera away and asks:

"Would you mind for me to bring you Denny, too?" he asks.

"No, not at all, bring him down."

"Thanks. Saves one bath..."

Only a couple of minutes later he comes in with our son and gently places him in the water. I hold both children until he's prepared a big soft towel for Seraina. I watch, while he spells her hair dry and gently packs her into the towel. She cries a bit because she doesn't want to get out of the water yet.

"Hey, don't cry, love, you can't stay in there forever! Off we go, getting dressed!"

**Remus**

I go back upstairs to get Seraina dressed. I put her down on the changing table, pick up a nappy and unfold the towel. She's mostly dry, so I do the rest with a spell, then push the nappy underneath her. I'm spreading baby lotion over her body, then put a bit of baby powder between her legs and pull the nappy closed. That's followed by her long sleeved body, a pair of socks, rompers over a baby sweater and finally the booties. I quickly brush her hair, which starts to grow slowly. She pushes up and I catch her, both of us laughing. I'm going downstairs and call for Dobby. 

"Yes, master Lupin?"

"Can you watch Seraina for a while, Dobby? I want to go and take a quick shower."

"Of course, master Lupin."

I give him Seraina and go into the bathroom, where Sirius is still playing contentedly with Denny. 

"I'm just taking a quick shower, then I'll take Denny from you, okay?"

"Fine, just take your time!" 

While I wash myself I can hear repeated squeals of joy from Denny. Those two seem to like the water. That gives me the idea that some beach summer holiday might be a good idea for the next year. When I leave the shower I'm drying myself with a quick spell and pull the robe back on, then I pick up Denny. I summon his towel, pack him up and carry him up to his room to get dressed. That accomplished I brush his silky black hair and lift him up again. 

"Let's go for breakfast then, love, I'm just getting dressed first."

I take him over to our bedroom and put him on the carpet. I don't take long to get dressed in sweatpants, t-shirt, warm socks and a jumper. I'm quite hungry now. Sirius has finally left the bath and comes into the bedroom to get dressed, too. I wait with Dennis on my arm. Once Sirius is finished we go down to breakfast. Dobby and Winky have managed to cook breakfast and look after Seraina. Sirius picks her up and we go over to the living room. I'm pulling my wand to start a fire in the fireplace. Dobby brings the bottles for the babies and the breakfast for us. I hold Denny on my lap while I'm letting him drink his bottle empty. He's very hungry and suckles happily. Seraina is just as busy; after all she's been up almost an hour longer than Dennis. My son holds the bottle almost alone now. He looks up into my eyes while he suckles. 

"Such a big boy you're already, my sweet."

I'm looking at him, too. He lifts up one of his little hands to put it on mine. Every day we get more response from our children and every day it's a new miracle for me. 

It doesn't take our two hungry babes long to gobble up their bottles. We put them into their high chairs and give them a teaspoon to play with while we start to get to our own breakfast. We take our time and don't really expect anyone else to be up before about ten o'clock. 

**Hermione**

It's brightest daylight outside, when I wake up. I stretch and notice I've got a headache. Oops! That was too much yesterday! We've been happily drinking Champagne until there was none left. Since the Patils have brought about three cases we got a pretty amount of that. 

I turn and look at Harry, who's still fast asleep. I look across him to the bedside clock and find out it's close to noon. Yawning, I start to caress my husband until he wakes up with a groan. He lifts his head from the pillow and forces his eyes open, but closes them again immediately.

"Too bright," he moans.

"No - too much Champagne, my love," I correct.

"How come you sound so chipper then?" he asks into his pillow.

"I'm not. Just keeping myself alive..." I mumble.

My mouth feels dry. The smell of my own breath turns me off and my stomach grumbles. Ewww... not my style at all, but somehow I didn't care last night. We did have to celebrate Parvati's and Draco's engagement, now didn't we? That definitely justifies drinking a bit too much, I'm telling myself. 

Harry is asleep again. Well, I let him. I'm awake now and get up slowly, but my head still hurts. I'm pulling my socks on and then fasten my dressing gown. When I reach the bath and look into the mirror, it shrieks:

"What the hell have you been drinking?"

"Just a bit too much Champagne. And let me tell you that it was excellent stuff!"

"That's not what you look like... better get some hangover potion!"

Hangover potion! Great idea, but do we have any? I brush my teeth first, to get rid of the bad taste in my mouth. Then I brush my hair and gather it in a pony tail. Finally I go down through the kitchen, where I ask Winky:

"Hello Winky. Do we have some hangover potion in the house?"

She grins and points to the living room.

"It's on the table, Madam!"

"Good. Thank you, Winky! Happy new year, by the way... and can you bring me coffee for breakfast today?" I mumble.

When I reach the dining table I can see that the whole party mess has already been cleared and that there are the breakfast placements ready for us when we come down. The idea of food makes my stomach lurch even more. I'm sure that I can't eat anything. Sirius, Remus, Lily and James sit on the sofas and armchairs and the twins nap in their play-pen. Ginny and Ernie sit at the table and look the way I feel.

"Good morning, Hermione! Happy new year!" Sirius calls.

I groan. He grins. And the rest of them grin, too. What's up with them? Oh yes, they went to bed early enough to avoid all the Champagne. Oww... Ginny looks up and points to the bottle containing the potion. I step up to the table.

"Hi all... how much does it take?"

"Luckily just a small glass... let me pour it for you," Ginny explains.

"Thanks!"

I'm sinking down on my chair. Winky brings my coffee, a glass full of orange juice and a small plate with two croissants. I take the glass from Ginny, empty it and almost spit it right out again.

"Eww, that stuff is vile!" I cry out.

Now everyone in the room just breaks out laughing. Not very sensitive, you guys! I'm feeling awful and you laugh!

"Poor 'Mione!" Sirius remarks, "Your first hangover or what?"

"As far as I remember, yes..." I mumble and pick up the coffee to get rid of the awful taste of the potion.

"About what I did, too, Hermione, and it even helped," Ginny says with a grin.

The potion helps! Within five minutes I'm feeling a lot better and decide to drink the orange juice and eat my croissants. 

"Harry still asleep?" Ernie asks.

"Yes, I hardly got two words out of him before he was unconscious again."

"We've all had a bit too much."

"A bit? You guys managed to empty the whole stock! Someone will have to take the stuff to the glass recycling next week," Remus mocks.

From the back I can see Blaise doddering into the room. He's been as inebriated as all of us and still shakes. He's the next candidate for the potion.

In the course of the early afternoon we're all up and all go through the potion and only when dinner time comes around we're all mostly well again to think of eating. James, Remus and Sirius have a whole afternoon of making fun of us and laughing themselves silly. When we sit down at the dinner table, Remus grins and says:

"Oh boy, that was fun! You guys go through what we have overcome for a while now. And boy, am I glad it's so..."

Vaidyanathan agrees. He and Shannah only got up very late, too, though and will depart after dinner. 

**James**

That was fun! We've all gone through these drinking binges once or twice - oh well, I know, many more times than that - and it's a bit fun to watch the youngsters going through that hangover age now. I'm a bit sad that I can't take in anything anymore. Seeing them all get tipsy and not being able to do the same was a bit hard. But today we got all the opportunities to tease them about it. Harry only turned up at four in the afternoon! Looked like shit, too. 

I have to say that by their age we've had had a couple of hangovers already. And were able to quite hold our liquor, too. So they're actually very disciplined. 

**Monday, 4.1.1999 / Justin**

Last night we apparated back to our room at the Aurors Headquarters. We left right after Remus, Sirius and the twins have returned to Hogwarts. It was bloody cold in the room and the first thing we did was cast a warming charm and then we hopped into bed and cuddled. 

The alarm goes off at six thirty like every morning. We're getting up and take a shower, rush down to the canteen to grab a quick breakfast and assemble with the other trainees in the gym to get about our morning workout. The training lasts two hours, then we have an hour to get showered, dressed and go back to the classroom. Today it's strategy and it's the very thing at which Ron is brilliant, while I'm more the one with the better grasp on putting together puzzles and solving riddles. Ron is also very good with the logic. I listen to the lecture, but somehow I have to say that strategy seems to be a natural gift and if you don't have it, you will never really get a good grip of it. I'm at a loss when it's about planning more than the next move. I'm not doing that badly at chess, but I'm usually not more than two or at the maximum three moves ahead, while Ron can hold on to a strategy with six or more moves easily.

After lunch we're back to the physical training. Hand to hand combat is not first priority, so we only have it every third week for an afternoon session. All other afternoons are either running, obstacle courses and spell casting while running and twice a week it's an afternoon full of duelling. We have special attachments to our wands to make them ineffective for the curses, our sparring partner will just feel a short sting and a red spot will show on their training robes to show that they've been hit. This way we know that the curses would have hit home and worked. If a curse is used and nothing shows it's either a miss or the curse hasn't been cast correctly. This is a very good way to train the defensive and offensive spells we need, we know we've cast them correctly and they still don't harm our sparring partners. We do have some real duels now and then, but mostly the training is to improve our agility in casting spells fast and in short order. Kingsley is leading many of those training sessions. 

Whatever I expected from the Auror training I'm very pleased to find it's so diverse. There's the part that really makes use of our intellectual capacities and then there's the physical part and both have about the same emphasis. We also get extra classes in brewing certain potions, mainly healing potions and in advanced transfiguration. 

After such a day Ron and I usually join our six classmates for dinner at the canteen, a bit of chatting and then it's off to bed. We don't have much in terms of homework here, the tests are hands on, we are questioned about the lectures and that's that. The training is taking until summer, then we'll be joining the Auror squad for a year in training and after that we're paired up with someone to form a team. 

Our jobs go far beyond hunting dark wizards. Actually it's a very exclusive group who's still busy finding the last hidden Death Eaters. We have lots of different duties, there's the guard duties in some wizarding places, there are research bits, regular police work in cases of crimes, observation of suspects, duty at court sessions, patrolling at Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and lots more. 

"I really can't wait until we get to the really practical part and we get to accompany trained Aurors," Jeannie, one of our group, says during dinner.

"Me too! Though the whole fitness training stuff is great I'm really more interested in the actual work," Ron confirms.

"Even if it will be lots of paperwork at the office, Ron?" Jeannie teases.

"That will probably be the rather boring part, but I see the necessity."

**Saturday, 30.1.1999 / Sirius**

It's another Quidditch match we want to go and see, so we've decided to stay at Hogwarts over the weekend. The larger part of the gang is around to come and watch the Harpies playing against the Falmouth Falcons. It's a home game for the Harpies, so woe to the Falcons! The match starts at one in the afternoon. We pack the twins into the carriers and put the slings into a bag, because if they are ready to nap they're better off in the slings. Minerva is coming along as is James together with Lily. A really great outing! We're all in high spirits. We have one of the boxes at the side of the stadium, enough space for about thirty people. There's a lot of butterbeer and even more warming charms. It's a crisp and clear winter day. 

There's a lot of noise in the stadium, lots of cheering for the Harpies even before the match starts. Our box fills with several other spectators. We've occupied the best seats though, as we came a bit early. Remus and I have placed the twins in the slings now, where they take their afternoon nap. Hermione has cast a silencing charm over the slings, so they have a lot less noise. 

The game starts. Alicia plays in Angelina's place, because the coach had decided that the Falcons' usual dirty play would endanger her baby too much and Angelina has gladly left her spot to her old classmate. She's third reserve for this game only. 

Fred and George, who are with us today, cheer Alicia whenever she comes fairly close to our area. 

Even though Alicia is usually only a reserve player she fits into the plays very well. Christine McAllister is still the center, according to Harry that has been Angelina's spot in the Gryffindor team, so when McAllister retires it will probably become Angelina's spot again. Alicia fits her role as left Chaser perfectly, as she has a mean throw with her left hand. Her passes are so precise that McAllister has an easy time of feinting the Falcons Keeper and scores many a goal this way. Dana O'Leary serves as a great diversion for the beaters who often can't see which of the ladies has the Quaffle and thus guess the wrong one, as Dana is a great actor. Whether she has the Quaffle or not, she always looks like she does and goes straight for the goals so the Beaters have to occupy themselves with her and send the Bludgers after her. In the meantime Christine and Alicia score. We grin about that tactic, which has distracted the Falcons Beaters about six or seven times already. 

Madeline Coltrane plays a heroic game. She saves a lot of goals and doesn't seem to be too happy with her two Beaters. They're told off in two or three time-outs. 

The Seekers are very uneven though. Aggie Morgan is simply amazing. She's such a great flyer and while the Snitch is elusive for a long time she doesn't get distracted. She's feinted the Falcons Seeker several times already, twice I'm sure she's seen the Snitch but hasn't been able to get there before her opponent, so she has feinted him to get the Snitch out of the way for another while.

Meanwhile we get to see a load of goals. The standings are 190:70 when the lights are turned on at four because it starts to get darker. The Falcons can still win the game if they catch the Snitch. Aggie's flying circles around the Falcons Seeker though and not even the rough interventions of the Beaters can keep her off the Snitch once she's spotted it.

"I can see the Snitch," Harry says calmly. 

"Where?" Remus asks, shifting Denny on his other arm and following Harry's glance. "Ah! Yes, I do, too... it's quite far, I wonder if Aggie prefers to keep Jolliot away or if she's attacking it..."

"She'll drift there slowly, like she's still searching, if she sees it - she's seen it!"

We watch how Aggie darts a careful glance around for Jolliot, the Falcons Seeker and quietly moves into the direction of the Snitch. Now that Harry has shown it to us, we can see it, too. It's quietly sailing in the centre of the field on several metres above the ground. Aggie is quite far ahead of Jolliot, she just has to keep the Beaters' attention away from herself. Alicia causes a distraction, when she notices what Aggie is up to, so in the last moment Aggie dives and catches the Snitch easily. The whistle sounds and she comes out of the dive holding the little ball in the air. The Harpies win 340:70. The stadium explodes with cheers and both of our children start to cry of fright. I hold Seraina close.

"Don't be afraid, darling, it's just that the people are happy the game has ended and our favourite team has won!"

After a short while Seraina calms down. Minerva gets up in front of me and turns to us.

"How about a nice dinner in the Three Broomsticks? I've ordered a parlour from Rosmerta..."

"That's a delicious idea!" says Hermione.

We all agree. Soon we're in the throng of people who seek their way out of the stadium and to the Apparition points. We're a party of fifteen and the children. Fred and George go and meet Angelina and Alicia in the locker rooms and bring them along to the Three Broomsticks. When we get there, Rosmerta leads us to one of the larger private rooms, where the table is already set. She adjusts it to the number of the party.

"Do you have some high chairs for children, Rosmerta?" Remus asks.

"They're in use already, I'm afraid..."

"Well, let me handle that then... we'll turn the chairs back afterwards, okay?" I say.

She's okay with that and I transfigure two chairs into high chairs for our little ones.

"Oh, they're cute! How old are they, Professor?" Rosmerta coos.

"Nine months."

"What do they eat?"

"We have bottles for them, don't worry. They're also nipping a bit of something from our plates already."

We all sit down and are served today's regular dinner menu soon after that. It tastes very nice and we enjoy the food with a lively conversation about the match, tactics and lots of other Quidditch related subjects for a while before we turn to other topics. 

"By the way, next week you can talk to several candidates for your assistants," Minerva tells Remus and me.

"Oh, that's going to be interesting," Remus says.

"I'm sure, some of them should do quite well, Albus and the Governors have made a pre-choice and you get three candidates to test."

"I suggest Tuesday morning, as I have all second through fourth years on that day..." Remus says.

"Good. Would you give me the material you're working on with the students, so that the candidates can do a test lesson based on it?"

"I'll do that as soon as I'll be back at Hogwarts," Remus promises.

"When would it be good for you, Sirius?"

"Tuesday morning and afternoon. I have a first and second year class in the morning and a third year class in the afternoon."

"Fine. My subject will be on Friday, could you kindly put your classes on study periods on that day and come join us? I think it's you who will have to work together with the Transfiguration assistant, so you should have a say in it. And for Potions we'll have two more candidates for the upper forms. You'll need to test them as well, but next week. And it will be something to find out who will work together the best."

"That's fine with me, Minerva. I'm really looking forward to work with the older students more intensively."

"In your best discipline, too. You'll do fine, I'm sure."

After that we turn to other subjects. Seraina and Denny are both asleep on two armchairs now, which we have charmed so they can't fall down. We're staying at the pub until fairly late, then Minerva, Remus and I pick up the twins and return to Hogwarts on our brooms, while the others apparate to their respective homes. 

**Tuesday, 2.2.1999 / Remus**

The day starts off well. The twins are still asleep when Sirius and I have to leave, so Winky takes over and we shuffle over to the Great Hall for breakfast. Albus and Minerva come into the Great Hall, accompanied by several of the candidates for the new assistant teacher's jobs. We're all called into the small room behind the teacher's table, where Albus presents the candidates to the respective subjects. Filius has two of them today, I have all three of them, because today is my main second through fourth year day. 

"Remus, this is Geoffrey Fancot, this is Kate Calverleigh, and this is Millicent Hunter. All of them have received the material for two of your classes of today. I put them into your able hands now. - This is Professor Remus Lupin, our current Defence teacher, who you'll assist in teaching the younger students."

I shake hands with all of them. Besides the candidates there are two School Governors for each of us who will also sit in the classes to observe.

I ask my three candidates:

"Who has the second years material?"

"I have," Fancot and Hunter say.

"Okay, my first and third lesson are second years, so you'll have to tell me who wants to go first..."

Fancot and Hunter share a glance, then Hunter says:

"I'll do it."

"Great. I'll guide you to my office now, on the way I'll show you all the classroom, so you can wait for your turn in my office."

Sirius comes along with his three candidates as well. They all know Hogwarts from their own school days, so it's no problem showing them the way. We both leave the waiting candidates in the office and move with the ones who are to teach to our respective classrooms. 

"Your class this morning is the Gryffindor/Slytherin second years class, Miss Hunter. They are usually a bit difficult, just don't let them intimidate you. Watch out for Mariah Malfoy and Violet Parkinson. Those two have quite an evil mouth and need to be kept on the ground."

We get to the classroom, where most of the students are already there. I wait for the stragglers and look at the watch, when two of the Slytherins come in late. 

"I'm truly sorry, but that will be ten points from Slytherin for your tardiness, Swithin and Robert. - Now, today your teacher will be Miss Hunter. She's continuing where we left off last Friday."

I take a seat on a chair at the back of the class next to the two governors and take notes. Miss Hunter braces herself and greets the class. Today's lecture for the second years is about vampires. We're going over the history for a good part. She seems a bit insecure in the beginning, but gains confidence as she notices that she is able to keep up the interest of the class. The two governors and I take notes during the class and exchange the one or the other glance. At the end of the lesson we dismiss the class and I take Miss Hunter back to the office. The next one is Kate Calverleigh, who has the material for a third and a fourth year lesson. I take her back to the classroom, where the governors and I watch her work with the Gryffindor/Slytherin third years. Again we all take notes. 

We stay back in the classroom to compare our notes about the two young women's teaching styles for a moment. Both governors thought that Calverleigh has done better. After the break it's Fancot's turn and he works with the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff second years. He stays on for the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff third years in the next period, then it's Calverleigh who takes the second round with the Gryffindor/Slytherin fourth years. In the afternoon Hunter comes back to teach the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff fourth years. While the candidates assemble, one of the governors informs them:

"That will be all for today, thank you all very much for your cooperation, you'll be informed in the next week about our final choice."

They all mumble thank yous and goodbyes and leave the castle. 

I have to talk with the two governors for the rest of the afternoon. We sit in my office and discuss the three candidates. After going through the finer points we get to the overall performances.

"I have to say, I was quite impressed about Miss Calverleigh's knowledge and how she was capable of passing it on to the students," says old Mr. Campbell, a man who must have been a school governor for the last eighty or so years.

"I'd have to agree with that. I think she was doing the best of all three. Miss Hunter was too insecure and I'm not at all sure that she had all her facts straight," said Mrs Mandeville, who is a lot younger than her colleague.

"What about Mr. Fancot?" I ask.

"What do you think, Professor?" Mr. Campbell asks back.

"A bit raw. Miss Calverleigh seems to have her facts straight, but she didn't have the classes in her hands very firmly. Some of those classes need that. I suppose she could be trained though. Mr. Fancot was a bit arrogant in my humble opinion. Miss Hunter will make for a good teacher one day, but I think she's too young. She's only finished Hogwarts three years ago."

"I agree with you. So you think, you'd like us to choose Miss Calverleigh?"

I look over my notes again. She actually has the smallest amount of remarks of all three of them and I take that as a good sign. I nod and ask the two governors:

"Yes, I think, she'd be the best of the three. - They have all three been informed about my condition, haven't they?"

"Yes, they have. In the case of the Defence teacher we made it a point only to pick candidates who said they'd have no problem working together with a werewolf," Mrs Mandeville declares.

"Good. Not that we do make a choice and the candidate runs out of Hogwarts screaming..." I say with a grin.

"Don't worry, Professor Lupin. There may still be many who think it highly questionable that you hold your position, but I've heard that you are doing a wonderful job here. I've also heard about your talents as a Charms teacher," Mr. Campbell says with a smile.

"It was great to teach several subjects, but then I really had an extraordinary class then. A very talented group and a good mix. So it was easy to be successful."

"Oh, someone who teaches sixth years that one of them is able to invent a by now already almost indispensable device in her sixth year must have some talent! Filius Flitwick couldn't stop praising your work."

"Thank you, sir, I'm pretty proud on that one! Hermione Granger-Potter is certainly one of the most talented witches of our days, but I pushed her a bit with this one. I grouped all others in her class in teams of four and made her work on her assignment alone, because she's been so far ahead of the others."

We all get up and go down to the Great Hall for dinner, after which there will be a teacher's meeting for all the teachers who had candidates to test today. That's Sirius and I only, because Filius and Edith didn't have all of their candidates today. We meet with Albus and Minerva in the conference room. Everyone takes a seat and we discuss the three candidates one more time shortly. Albus and Minerva add their impressions of the people from their interviews with them and a choice is made. For Defence it will be Kate Calverleigh and for Potions it will be Waldo Hawkridge, who has so far worked as a pharmacist. 

It's been an awfully long day and the governors keep blabbing on, but Sirius and I get up:

"I'm sorry and we don't want to be disrespectful, but we'd like to retire. We haven't seen our little children all day, so we'd like to be at least there to take them to bed," Sirius explains.

"Yes, yes, please don't let us keep you, Professors!" one of the governors replies.

"Thank you, Madam! Goodnight to all of you!"

We both hurry down to our flat and get there just in time to take the children to bed. Winky is very glad that we're back.

"They is getting a bit cranky and wants to see you, sirs!" she says.

"We've been held up all day, we just got away a moment ago. Sorry Winky, you go and have a good night now, okay?" I apologise.

"Thank you, Professor Lupin!"

"Good night, Winky!"

We take the little ones to bed. It's routine by now and we love the routine to watch them sleeping for a while before we go back to the living room, to do some of our remaining work. 

**Friday, 5.2.1999 / Sirius**

Minerva asks me to assign study lessons for my Friday classes and attend her Transfiguration classes with the applicants for the Transfigurations job. She's so nice to let me help with the choice, but of course it's me who will have to work with the future assistant teacher. There are three who made it to the final tests, again two women and a man. Penelope Clearwater, Horatia Winwood and Torquil Pennymore. Minerva, two members of the Hogwarts Board of Governors and myself are sitting in the back of the class watching how the three work through two lessons each. Miss Clearwater comes into the class with us all and calmly starts the lesson in a confident manner. She is very soft spoken, doesn't drone, has a witty way of talking and going about the lesson. Minerva asked her to do one lesson leaning more on theory and another with more practical work. She does both in a very impressive manner. I look at her credentials. Ravenclaw prefect in her fifth through sixth year, one of the victims of the basilisk in Harry's second year, when she was hit together with Hermione. Always in the top five in her year. Head girl together with head boy Percy Weasley - oh, now I know where I've heard her name before! She must have been that girl who was Percy's girlfriend. In any case Minerva and I exchange glances and nod. There are not very many notes on my parchpad. 

The next is Horatia Winwood, who's quite good as well, but nowhere as convincing as Miss Clearwater. She actually makes a pretty horrible mistake, notices it and corrects it, but it's happened and it's a few points off her performance. Finally we watch Mr. Pennymore, who doesn't do badly either, but when we go over our notes, Minerva and I fully agree that we liked Miss Clearwater most. The governors agree that she did her job very well. 

I smile. I think I'll like that young woman. She's worked for the Ministry for a while, but since she's broken up with Percy she'll be glad to work somewhere else. 

I know that the tests with the future assistant Charms and Herbology teachers have taken place through the week. Albus has called for a staff meeting tomorrow, so we can't go to the Sunnegg over the weekend. 

**Saturday, 6.2.1999 / Sirius**

We are woken very early by more baby babbling than ever. The Extendable Ears let us listen to both of our children happily entertaining themselves in their rooms. We just cuddle in our bed until one of them starts to get a bit cranky. Remus gets up and goes to pick up Denny, who usually isn't as patient as his sister. I get up and fetch Seraina soon after though. When I step up to her cot she's standing upright, holding herself on the wooden bars and grins. 

"Dada! Dada!" she calls.

My baby has called me for the first time!!! I can't believe it, it's so wonderful! 

"Hello, my little sweetheart! You've called me! Say that again, love, please!"

"Dada!"

I think I have never heard a sweeter word before. With that first 'dada' I feel her becoming more real than ever. She's just nine months old and babbles her first word. I take off her sleeping bag, change her nappy and wash her, then get her dressed. We meet Remus and Denny again in our bedroom, where Denny already suckles on his bottle. Remus has brought Seraina's as well and I pick it up, warm it for her and sit down on the bed to let her suckle, too.

"Remus, she said 'dada' the moment she saw me!"

Remus grins. 

"She's been doing that babbling every morning lately, Siri!" 

"Yep, but today she definitely meant it as 'Daddy', didn't you, sweetheart?"

Seraina keeps sucking hungrily. 

"You're just the sweetest little creature in the world, my love! Yes, that's what you are. At least until you start on your mischief making... mmm, the stuff's still so nice?"

Both children empty their bottles. I know that once we're at the breakfast table they'll take another sip of warm chocolate and chew on some bread rinds to sooth their pushing teeth. Remus leaves me with both children on the bed and goes to take his shower and get dressed. The bed is charmed so that the children can't fall out. They crawl around on it and happily play hide and seek with me. I pull up the blankets and vanish and they squeal until I come back out again, when they start to grin and laugh. They also love to cuddle with Padfoot. I'm not sure whether they already understand, that Padfoot and Daddy are the same, but they do like the dog, in spite of its bearlike size. 

Once Remus is back in the bedroom he takes the twins out to the living room and I get my go at the bathroom. I go through the routine quickly and put on some jeans, a t-shirt and cover myself with soft woollen robes, nice and warm. I fix a belt around them. Then we go to breakfast. Albus has called the meeting for eleven o'clock, so we have ample time to lounge around in the Great Hall and talk with our colleagues. 

We all gather in the conference room shortly before eleven. Every teacher has been invited to the meeting, even those teachers who get no assistant. The team will be slightly larger next year, but the room is more than big enough. Albus waits until the whole staff is present, even Filch and Poppy Pomfrey. 

"Good, we're assembled," Albus quietly says and closes the door with a wave of his wand. 

I look around the table: Carla Vector, who teaches Arithmancy. Sybil Trelawney, Divination. Quentin Smith, Muggle Studies. Edith Sprout, Herbology. Hjalmar Nilsson, who's almost as old as his subject Ancient Runes. Filius Flitwick, Charms. Rubeus Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures. Minerva McGonagall, Transfigurations. Claire Sinistra, Astronomy. Rolanda Hooch, Flying and Quidditch. John Binns, History of Magic, Remus and myself. 

I have no idea how these people worked over all those years, and I'm very glad we'll have assistants next year. I do think that the teaching quality will only improve with this solution. Albus starts the meeting:

"This is a full staff meeting for reasons that most of you don't know about yet. I have handed in my resignation from my position as headmaster of Hogwarts to the end of this school year to finally go into retirement. With the fall of the Dark Lord and our cleaning work mostly finished I feel that I'm not that needed anymore. These are now the official statements from the Board of Governors to be conveyed to the staff:

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore retires to the end of the summer term of 1999. He will be succeeded by Madam Minerva McGonagall. The new Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress is to be determined by her and will be approved by the Board of Governors. 

The following new assistant teachers will be added to the existing staff of teachers as from September 1st 1999:

Charms: Clancy Malvern (Hufflepuff class 1987) 

Defence: Kate Calverleigh (Huffflepuff class 1986)

Herbology: Neville Longbottom (Gryffindor class 1998)

Potions: first to fourth years: Waldo Hawkridge (Slytherin class 1983)

Transfigurations: Penelope Clearwater (Ravenclaw class 1994) 

Professor Sirius Black will change from the position as Potions master to Transfigurations.

The new Potions mistress or master is to be evaluated in the next week and shall be announced to the staff upon appointment.

That's it from the governors."

We all applaud the nominations. This will be quite an enlargement of the regular staff. Of course there's a lot of space around the teacher's table, so that won't be a problem. There are enough empty offices and classrooms available, we'll just have to rush through the castle and find the best suited ones. 

"I'll pass the arena to Minerva now."

Albus takes a seat, Minerva gets up from hers and looks around:

"I'm looking for my Deputy now, so I can train the person for their new position early on. My preferred choice would be you, Filius, or Remus. I give you the first choice, Filius."

"Oh, Minerva, you're too kind and I'd love to do it, but look at me, I'm much too old! And as much as I love my work here I'm looking forward to have it a bit easier. I was actually considering retirement like Albus, but now that my workload is reduced so nicely I'll stay on for a while. But for those reasons I'm sorry, I'm turning your offer down," Filius replies. 

Then he beams at Remus:

"You'll be much better off with Remus! He'll do just fine!"

Minerva accepts with a smile and turns to Remus:

"Remus? Will you do me the favour and become Deputy Headmaster?"

Remus blushes deeply! Gods, he's always so modest. Come on, love, you won't turn that offer down! He takes a deep breath, then looks at Minerva and says:

"I accept your offer, Minerva. Always considering that the school governors won't cry 'outrage' of course."

Everyone along the table laughs or grins at least. With the resignation of Snape no one is left on the staff who doesn't like Remus. Except for Filch, of course, but he doesn't count and he hates me with the same passion he despises Remus. Meaning that he doesn't despise Remus because he's a werewolf, or not as much, but because he's been part of the Marauders, Filch's all time worst enemies ever. I think, that apart from us four only the Weasley twins have caused as much damage in that school. 

"You'll hear of their decision as soon as they've made it, Remus. Thank you. Now there's something else I'd like to announce and that's monthly team meetings. I know we've had the teacher's conferences before the beginning of the term, but I'd like to hold a shorter meeting once a month to go through the departments. They will be held every fourth Friday afternoon after classes."

We take note of that. She outlines a bit of her plans and that she'd like to start a regular switch of the houses that would be taught together. I think this is a very good idea. If we switch them every year they will learn to know all students of their year much better through the seven years, because they will be together with all other houses at least twice in that time frame.

"Now there's still one thing, and that's one that pains me a bit. Since I'm moving up to become Headmistress, my position as Head of Gryffindor house will be available as well. We have the rule that first priority gets a teacher of a core subject if one is available. That will be either Remus or Sirius. Which of you should it be?"

I point to Remus immediately and he points at me at the same time. 

"Remus!" I add.

"Sirius!" he says at the same time.

There's laughter around the table. And someone shakes his head. Old Hjalmar remarks:

"Oh dear! One of the worst mischief makers this school has ever seen and head of his house!"

More laughter, but Minerva wants a solution. Remus insists:

"I'll have enough to do as your Deputy, Minerva. I know how much you did! We could share that work between us if Sirius becomes head of house."

"Fine with me, Remus. Sirius?"

"Well, if you dare entrusting me with the Gryffindors, I'll gladly take over..."

"Very well. I'll have an eye on you, Sirius!" she accepts with a smile.

"I bet, you will! I'll try my best!" I promise.

"Good, that's all anyone can ask."

After that we're through with the meeting. I get up and approach Edith: 

"I'm so pleased to hear that Neville will join the staff, Edith! He'll do great, I'm sure."

"Yes, of the three applicants he was the shyest, but he definitely has the best hand and the most profound knowledge of the subject. He'll be joining me in my classes from next month to gain a bit more confidence in teaching. He knows his stuff so well, that's all he still needs to learn."

"That's great, I'm really looking forward to see him on the staff."

While we drift out, everyone congratulates Remus, but he remains reserved:

"Just let's wait what the governors have to say to that nomination! I don't believe I'll get it before I see it in written from them."

"Aw, come on, Remus, you don't think they'll turn you down! You're one of the most popular and sound teachers this school has seen in the past few decades. I'm quite sure the students put you in the same class as Filius!" Carla says.

"Thanks for the flowers, Carla. You're not half bad yourself, you know! You would do very well, too, so if they won't have me, I'm quite sure Minerva will ask you."

"I didn't want it, she's asked me already..." she says and grins. 

"Oh, I don't believe it," Remus gasps. "Now I wonder who else she's already asked..." he adds.

"Me and Edith. We talked about it over tea actually. You know that we regularly meet among us ladies. Mostly Poppy, Rolanda, Minerva and myself. Last week Edith found time to join us and we talked about it. She did ask me, but I declined and Edith told her not to even ask her. She feels to old, too, like Filius. She's really the oldest among us after Filius and Hjalmar. I think, Hjalmar must be as old as Filius, if not older..."

We laugh, even Hjalmar, who's heard it.

"Actually I'm two years older than Filius, Carla. But you young ones..."

We grin.

"I don't think you should give up already, Hjalmar, I liked your teaching - and your subject," Remus remarks.

"You did quite well with your students over there in Switzerland, I've heard," Hjalmar compliments Remus.

"Oh, thank you. I always did have a flair for the Runes. Some of the students were already quite good at it, too," Remus says.

"I was sorry to have lost Hermione Granger, Padma Patil and Amanda Brocklehurst. Good students, all of them and what a pleasure to teach them."

"Something I can only confirm! We've had wonderful three years with them. Only two with Mandy, but she's moved back into the house when she left Hogwarts and lives with us again," I tell him.

"Oh, did she? I've heard you've had a bit of a run-in with her parents," Hjalmar remembers.

"I wouldn't call it quite that. Just a difference of opinion. Much to the Brocklehursts' dismay Mandy shared our view and not theirs. They didn't exactly trust Remus and me," I say.

"I see. Well, I knew you both as students - well enough, and I'd only mistrust you for your sense of mischief! Though I probably was like most of the wizarding world believing you were guilty, Sirius. Just glad we were all wrong and sorry that you paid the price for that."

We all head over to the Great Hall for lunch. Then Remus and I are free to do what we want. We return to our flat and come just right to put our twins to bed for their nap. That gives us a moment for ourselves, which we use for a nice little snog. But we're disturbed in the middle of it by the entrance of Lily and James.

"Hey guys! If you're not coming to us, we're looking after you!" Lily says cheerfully. "Oops, are we interrupting something?"

Remus sighs.

"Nothing major in any case. We never know how much time we have with the twins' afternoon nap."

"What's been holding you up here?" James wants to know.

"A staff meeting," Remus says.

"Oh. Something important?"

"Pretty much. Albus gave us the official results of who will be the new assistant teachers and officially informed us about his retirement and that Minerva will replace him," I reply casually.

"Oh, that's pretty important! We knew about Albus, but what about the replacement of Minerva as Deputy?" Lily asks immediately.

"Probably Remus. Depends on the School Governors of course, but if they give their consent, he'll be not only the first werewolf to ever attend Hogwarts and teaching here, but he'll of course be the first one who gets a leading position in the staff!" I say proudly.

"Oh, shut up, Padfoot! I don't really believe that they'll accept. Minerva asked Carla Vector first, then Filius, so I was only third choice."

"Hm. Might have been that she wanted Carla, but I'm quite sure she had you in mind all the while, because you two are really a great team. She's always had a soft spot for you!" James declares.

"Quite what I've thought, too!"

I'm so proud of Remus! Merlin, he deserves every good career he can make. Deputy headmaster is practically just the preliminary to becoming Headmaster. I don't know of any Deputy who hasn't become headmaster or headmistress in all of the Hogwarts history. I'd love to return to Grimmauld Place just to tell that awful portrait of my mother's about that development and to see her lose it! 

Then something hits me. I will have to return there once, because we need to go through all the papers of my family. I'll take a notary with me, I could actually ask Mrs Winter to accompany me when I open all the drawers in there. There must be several Gringotts keys and a load of papers back from my parents which should once be looked over. I groan inwardly, recognising another mountain of work. 

"Hey, and shouldn't there be a new head of Gryffindor house as well?" Lily inquires.

"Yes, that honour was laid on my shoulders," I confirm with a grin.

"Yay! Go, Padfoot! That's just too much fun! Now you can be sure I'll come and mess up a bit here and there!"

"Hey, you'll only get me in trouble! Remember that any mischief of our brand will fall back on me now! And I'll have to deduct house points!"

"Shit! Forgot about that. Sigh! Hey, how about going through some more of those memories of yours?" James asks.

**Remus**

Sirius doesn't look too happy about that, but James is right, we should continue. The sooner we do it the sooner he'll be through. Then it will be my turn. Unfortunately Sirius points at me and says:

"You know, we could go through Remus' for a change."

Oh shucks! Caught!

"That's true. You've kept suspiciously quiet, Moony!"

"Well, it's not going to be much fun..."

But they are relentless and even Lily thinks it would be good to go through mine now. 

"From your birth to the start of your second year. Like Sirius..."

"Alright."

I put my wand to my head and think the incantation for the spell, then I start to pick the memories and place them in the Pensieve. About ten or twelve come for the first year of my life. Once no more strands come forth I lower my wand and we call for Winky to watch out for the twins while we're in the Pensieve. Then we prod and finally touch the memories and all get drawn inside.

**James**

>> We're landing in a cute nursery, where Mrs Lupin picks up a crying baby Remus from his crib to feed him. Dear me, he's tiny. She coos, holds him up for a while to calm him down, then she sits down on a rocking chair and nurses him. I throw a glance at Sirius. Even after only a minute or two he gets teary eyes. He puts his arm around Remus and holds him close. Judging from my memories of Harry I'd say Remus must have been a few months old. 

The memory ends, but the next one is just as cute. It's Mr. Lupin who holds his son in the baby bathtub. The baby is washed gently and then dried and dressed just as gently, all accompanied by soft loving words. Merlin what a difference to what we saw in Sirius' Pensieve! Again my heart goes right out to Padfoot for all he's been through. 

"Heavens, what a cute little one you were, Moony! And now I see Seraina in you..." Siri remarks.

"I'm totally shocked to see just how she's like I was as a baby. I do have my baby photos, but it's something entirely different to see this, isn't it?"

"It is."

>> The next memory is a family gathering, somewhere not at the Lupin home, maybe it's Remus' Swiss relatives. Next to his parents there are about eight or ten other adults and maybe five or six other children. 

Remus grins and explains:

"Well, who do we have here? There's Tante Hélène and Oncle Rodolphe Droz. They have two children, Fritz and Johan. Oncle Rodolphe was my mothers oldest sibling. At this point Fritz was about six, Johan three. Then that's my grand-parents, Jeanne and François Droz. My parents as you can see, my aunt Jeannette and her husband Julius Ritter. She's the second oldest and married the first of the five siblings. Her children are Babette, she's the oldest in my generation, at this point about twelve, her brother Otto is nine and her younger sister Melina is still a baby. She's actually two months younger than I am. And then there's my Oncle Didier Droz, still unmarried at that time, my aunt Carine and her husband Hans Zehnder and their daughter Céline, at that time about a year old. I think, Carine was pregnant with her second then. And what you see here is a rather small gathering. In the end there were twelve children in my generation."

"Can you imagine that much family, Lily?"

"We didn't have that much to meet in any case. And I think my parents liked it that way."

"And I have no idea how it feels to have siblings," I say.

"I do. And for me it wasn't a pleasant experience. To see all these kids there though..." Sirius says with a dreamy expression.

>> He's quite right. The children, at least the five who can be on their own, are mostly guided by the oldest, Babette, but they all mingle around and seem to be totally happy and carefree. There's a large table in a garden, it's summer and Remus smiles. 

"Must have been my grandmother's birthday, that was always celebrated in the big garden of her house near Tavannes, that's a small town in the Jura. Lovely area, we all absolutely loved to go there for that birthday. As it was in summer we almost always enjoyed ourselves immensely," Remus explains.

>> We're pulled out from the memory after a while. The next one shows a proud little Remus who's managed to crawl for the first time.

"Why, look at our little man! You're so tiny and you're already crawling, sweetheart! Well done!" Mr. Lupin commends the baby. 

Then he picks the boy up and sits down to look at a baby book with him. It's just a few pictures on some fabric pieces sewed together. Remus seems to enjoy it though and grabs the bits, twists them in his tiny hands and grins. 

"You're supposed to look at them, you know..." says Mr. Lupin, but he laughs.

Again the memory moves on. It's of Remus' first steps and then another memory with some people comes up, but this time little Remus hides his head in Daddy's shoulders. He's shy already. He only seems to be opening up immediately with family members he already knows. Mr. Lupin holds the baby tightly on his arm though, doesn't push Remus. Mrs Lupin takes over and when Remus changes from his father to his mother we get a chance to see his eyes. They're almost the same colour as Seraina's, but Remus' are more forest green. And they're huge eyes! He rubs them with his tiny fists. 

"You're going for your nap, my little man. You're so tired," Mrs Lupin says and carries Remus to his room, which now contains a larger cot. 

The baby is laid down, gets a small stuffed monkey to hug and pulls it up to cover his face with it. Mrs Lupin smiles. 

"Sleep well, my love! Maman will be back to take you up for tea..."

With that the memory shifts to what's obviously Remus' first birthday and a little party. I'm amazed to see my parents - and myself! there, but then I remember that at one point our fathers had worked in the same department. 

"Wow, Remus! I didn't know that I've met you back then..."

"Neither did I! That's a fun discovery!"

>> We watch how the little boy gets his first birthday presents. Everyone is in high spirits, there are several other wizarding families around, all with small children. Baby Remus is a sparkling, cheerful little lad, delightfully shy and bold at the same time. 

The final memory shows us another time when Remus sits on his father's lap and looks at a book. This time it's already one of those well known standards in the wizarding children's book realm, 'Dragon Cookie finds a job'. Contrary to the first time Remus is really looking at the pictures, already with that typical curious Remus expression we learned to know so well at Hogwarts. 

We come back out, all smiles. That was delightful. Remus gets the memories into his dictaquill and then he empties the Pensieve to store the next few memories inside. We see more typical happy family memories and I detect unshed tears not only in Sirius', but also in Remus' own eyes. At one point, Remus remarks:

"I've spoiled all that, you know! I really messed things up..."

"But it's not your fault that the wolf bit you, Remus!" Lily protests.

"Well, yes, it is, for a bit... but we're not there yet."

>> Remus' third birthday is again a very cheerful affair. He's still shy and sometimes hides behind his Mum or his Dad. But as soon as he's alone with his parents, there's the little imp that is firmly planted inside of Remus. He grins and laughs and talks of the things he got for his birthday. 

One of the next memories shows him reading his first books. And there's that delight that shows on his face to this day when he's reading something. It won't matter what kind of material he reads, if it's something that gets his interest, then he looks delighted. The dark green eyes sparkle and shine. Another memory shows him outside in the garden of the small house the Lupins own. It's right on the edge of a forest and the little imp in Remus leads the boy right inside of that forest. 

In several of the next memories we watch as Remus discovers the forest and explores it, sometimes with some other children who live a little further up the road. They seem to have a lot of fun together, laugh a lot, play hide and seek and look for berries to pick and eat. 

In one memory I can see Mrs Lupin with Remus in the forest. Both of them have a box with them to collect herbs. She shows him the kind of herbs he is to pick and Remus walks, looking around, spotting the plants. If he sees one that his mother has shown him he calls her. If it's one of the herbs she wants, she carefully cuts it and puts it in one of the boxes. 

It looks like there's only sunshine and happiness in Remus' early childhood. We know only too well that it will end soon and abruptly. Remus puts his wand to his head to pick up the terrifying memories of the bite and all that followed. He looks stricken, but I know it's a good thing to share this with us. He starts to place the strings inside of the Pensieve. Sirius, Lily and I watch with baited breath, how terrible will it be?

**Sirius**

>> Remus' fourth year starts off with another lovely birthday party. His parents don't ever have to say a loud word, as Remus is the sweetest child one can imagine. Merlin, I want to go and hug him, he's so cute! Every adult meeting his parents and little Remus remarks how cute and well behaved the boy is. We can see that the little family frequently visits their relatives scattered over Switzerland and that Remus learns both, French and German through them. Methinks, Mrs Lupin helps a bit with the Polyglot potion, but once Remus understands the languages she makes him read in the new language as well as speak it with her. 

There's a summer vacation in a wizarding beach resort in southern France. Little Remus runs along the beach and squeals of delight about the waves rolling in and he is even more pleased when his father takes him out in the water. The sun bleaches his honey coloured hair lighter blond and he has a really lovely tan. 

The next memory shows the family back in England. Remus reads. A lot. And everywhere, on his bed, at his little desk, on the balcony on the upper floor of the house, on the porch swing, in the garden, under several trees, on one or two of the trees, on a clearing in the forest. Again and again we see him drawn into the forest, but Mrs Lupin lets him go, because she knows he knows the forest well.

Until that fateful evening. The Lupins eat dinner, then Remus asks politely if he's allowed to play in the garden for another while. Both his parents allow it, but remind him that they would call him back inside for his bedtime. 

"Yes, yes!" he calls and off he runs. 

Straight out of the garden and along the edge of the forest. It's still light, so he's not afraid to go inside. An hour or so passes and we watch the little one work on building a little farm with twigs, acorns and fir cones. He's totally lost in his playing, until he hears his father calling him inside. Remus doesn't move an inch at first, just continues. But then he notices his father coming after him.

"Just you wait, you little imp! I'll get you!" Mr. Lupin jokes.

Remus runs off, back to the edge of the forest, where he can hide in the high grass and the shrubbery. Mr. and Mrs Lupin follow him, they've seen Remus' bright red robes. And then Mr. Lupin freezes to ice and we hear the growl that Remus hears. We can see Remus hiding in the high grass, but the wolf has his scent and pounces. Remus screams, both parents cry out in anguish and Mr. Lupin starts to run, throwing stunners at the wolf from far, not caring, whether he hits Remus as well, just trying to get the wolf away from his son. He and Mrs Lupin manage to actually stun the wolf, but when they reach Remus, the damage is done. Remus is unconscious and bleeds from two terrible bites, one on his left shoulder and another on his upper left arm. The blood is spilling over the bright red robes. A quick look at her son tells Mrs Lupin, that he's still very much alive.

"We have to get him to St. Mungo's, I need to treat him there, Quintus, and quick!"

Mr. Lupin doesn't discuss, he creates a Portkey for his wife and his son and says:

"You go first, I'll follow as soon as I've taken care of this one here!"

"Yes, love, I'm off!"

Mrs Lupin and Remus vanish. 

The next memory shows us the hospital bed in which Remus wakes up. Mr. Lupin sits next to him and watches his unconscious little son. It looks like Remus has a fever, because his little forehead is very red. When he finally wakes up he seems to be in pain, because he starts to cry almost immediately.

"Hello, my little man," Mr. Lupin says tenderly. 

"Papa! It hurts!" Remus cries.

"Yes, I know, but the wounds have only just been healed, love. It's going to stop soon."

"What was that?" Remus asks after he's calmed down a bit.

"That was a wolf, Remus."

"But we don't have any wolves in the forest, do we?" 

'Clever boy...' I think.

>>"No, Remus, we don't - this was a werewolf."

"A - werewolf? What's a werewolf?"

It is the painful moment when Mr. Lupin has to explain what a werewolf is and that Remus is one as well because of the bite.

"A werewolf is a person who is forced to transform into a wolf on the night of the full moon, Remus. That person remains to be a wolf for that whole night, from moonrise until moonset."

"Isn't that terrible?" Remus asks.

"Yes, Remus, that is terrible. What is even sadder is that this werewolf has bitten you and therefore he's made you one as well."

Remus doesn't seem to understand at first, but Mr. Lupin explains it again:

"No one is born as a werewolf, Remus, people need to be bitten by a werewolf to become one. In most cases the victim dies, but all those who survive such an attack are werewolves themselves from on that day. I'm sorry, my son. You will be transforming into a wolf on the next full moon night and then on every full moon night for the rest of your life."

Remus has listened to this explanation with wide eyes. Already there's a lightly golden shimmer in the forest green and now the tears start to flow. He cries, because he feels that something really bad has happened to him. 

In the next memory Remus is still at St. Mungo's. He's all alone though and looks very downcast. Gone is the bright, sunny little boy that we saw just a few moments ago. Already I detect the saddened face of the boy I was to meet six years later at the Sorting ceremony at Hogwarts. A face that has aged far beyond its real age. It's so very painful to watch. I pull Remus close to me and quickly kiss him. 

Then there's the memory that is worse than anything else. Remus is awake, but none of the three adults in the room notices. They are standing a bit away from his bed. One seems to be a healer and the other two are Quintus and Fanny Lupin, Remus' parents. Remus must have just woken up and even though they speak in hushed tones, he hears them perfectly well. 

"...you're a healer yourself, Fanny! You should know what terrible things await it. Really, the best thing would be for you two to have it put down. It'll be out of its misery and you can start over with a family."

"HOW dare you saying something like this, Francis? HOW dare you treat my little boy like a sick 'animal'? And just HOW dare you talking of my son as an 'it'? Never, do you hear me? NEVER even say something like this in a whisper! What if it would have been your own child? Would you 'put it down'? You really disgust me, Francis!" Mrs Lupin hisses.

"You must be out of your mind to even hush something like that, Healer Henson. This is our son you're speaking of. A child not even five years old! A victim of a terrible condition for which he really can't be blamed. We're taking him home right now."

Mr. Lupin starts to gather all the things that surround Remus' bed in a bag, wakes his son and gets him dressed. Mrs Lupin levitates the small bag of Remus' things and Mr. Lupin lifts up the boy, who looks so tiny and frail. 

"If you don't have him at least registered within the next three days I'm going to send the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures after you!"

"Oh, don't worry, he will be registered. He'll learn to live with it and he'll learn to laugh again. Because he'll always have someone who loves him. Even if there will be more people who say such atrocious things like the ones you've just said."

With that, both Lupins disapparate to their home. Quintus carries Remus up to his bedroom and gently sets him down on the big bed again. He summons a fresh pyjama and undresses Remus again to put him in the fresh pyjama. The look in Remus' eyes is even worse now that he's heard the conversation. He's still swallowing hard. 

"Papa, what did Healer Henson mean before?" Remus asks all of a sudden.

Quintus sits down next to his son. He closes his eyes and bites his lips for a moment. A gesture I so well recognise from Remus, now I know where he's got it from. Then he looks down on Remus, pushes some of his locks out of his face and sighs.

"He meant something awful, Remus. He wanted to have you killed so you wouldn't have to live through the transformations."

"Killed?"

"Yes. Killed. That means taking your life away, Remus. You'd be dead. There's no one who could force us to do something like that luckily. It's bad enough that you had to go through all this and that you are now a werewolf. You will never have an easy life, Remus, there will always be a majority of people who condemn you for what you are. Because the wolf that's inside of you now is not a friendly dog. It's a raging beast, exactly like the one that bit you. We will have to lock you into a safe room on the night of the full moon and that's going to be terrible. It will hurt you, too. But we'll be with you, both your Maman and myself, love, we love you and would never allow anyone to take your life simply for being the victim of a werewolf."

"I didn't listen to you and Maman yesterday..." Remus says in a tiny voice.

"I know. But you couldn't know what the consequences could be, you didn't know it was a full moon. And you couldn't know that there would be a werewolf. I certainly knew nothing about one in the area."

"Papa, what happened to the wolf?"

"He transformed back in the Ministry detention for rogue werewolves the morning after. I'm afraid he was punished with a sentence to Azkaban, love. He shouldn't have been outside. He should have looked for a closed shelter to transform. The moment he had your scent you were lost, little one. I couldn't get to you fast enough."

"I hid..." Remus says and the tears spill again.

"Yes, love, but still. This is too much of a punishment for a simple game you played. Or you thought you played. - Now there's another consequence, Remus, and that will not be very nice either. We must register you at the Werewolf Registry. The Ministry will always know that you are a werewolf. You don't have to tell anyone though. And I suggest that you better not, because people will only mistreat you if they know. Most of them think all werewolves are out to only kill and eat the humans. So they could send you away and sometimes they will do that - and in rude ways and with rude words."

It's a miracle Remus can sleep after all of that. And right in the next memory he gets a first dose of what waits for him. Quintus takes him to the Werewolf Registry the next day. Mrs Lupin is with him. They have to wait in line of two other werewolves who have to return to renew their registration. When Mr. Lupin finally steps up to the desk, he tells the clerk:

"This is a new registration, Horace."

"Oh, hello there, Quintus - what! The child that was bitten is yours? I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's happened, there's nothing that we can do to have it undone. This is Remus. He'll be five in two months."

"Hello Remus. We'll have to note down a couple of things. I give you this form to fill in. Quills are over there."

"Okay. Come, little one."

Remus follows his father over to a small counter, where Mr. Lupin starts to go over the form. He fills in all the relevant information and hands it back to Horace. 

"I'll open the case number and you'll have a copy of that, Quintus. He has to return every two years for the renewal of his registration. He'll get a summoning letter for that. If he doesn't show up or has a very good reason we go and look for him. In the next few days your house will be checked and you better get one room in the basement that can detain him during his transformations. Here's a list of all requirements. We have to be informed about every relocation of your family. And here's general information of anything concerning werewolves."

Quintus sighs.

"Thank you, Horace. This is a nightmare, but I guess we will learn to live with it."

"It will be hard though. At least you don't intend to chuck him out like so many other parents."

"We certainly won't do anything of that sort. He's a child, for Merlin's sake."

"Still - he's a Dark Creature now. At least technically, not everyone becomes a Dark Creature. But let me warn you, the wizarding society has a lot they can say against werewolves. You'll have some of those things in the information book that I've just given you."

With that Remus and his parents are free to leave. Remus is taken home, but Mr. Lupin goes out to the Diagon Alley and buys some special ice cream for himself and Remus to take home. 

Physically Remus recovers well and seemingly very quickly. Soon he wants to play with his friends again, but he has to listen to them all screaming and crying for him to go away, because they don't want to be eaten. 

"Go away, werewolf! We don't want to play with you! You are going to kill us!" one boy shouts.

"No, I won't! Why should I? You're my friends!"

"No, we aren't! Not anymore. My Mum has forbidden me to play with you, go away!" screams another boy. 

Remus is standing in the middle of the path, looking at them running away, one turning around and throwing a stone at Remus. The lost look in his face is probably one of the worst things I've ever seen about him. He's standing still, but the mother of one of his former playmates comes out of a house and screams at him to leave the place and never come close to her son again. The tears start to flow again, but silently, he just ducks that stone, turns around and walks home, lower lip between his teeth, tears in his eyes. Only when he reaches his mother he starts to cry into her robes. She sighs and holds him tightly. This is only the first of a few such encounters, each one will leave her son a few more invisible scars. 

I'm still holding Remus tightly. To witness this was at least as awful as to see what my parents did to me. This innocent little boy who can't hurt a fly and to see adults treat him like he'd be the ultimate killer. It's heartbreaking.

**Lily**

Merlin, I just want to scream back at that woman! She wasn't that far from that forest, it could have been her own child who could have been hit, didn't she understand the hurt in this little child?

>> The next memory is one of his first transformation. I brace myself, because this is going to be gut wrenching, I'm sure. We will see the transformation through Remus' eyes. 

"I'm not sure I want you to see this," he says.

"You can't go through this alone, love, we stay with you. Right here," Sirius insists.

James and I also feel the need to witness this. 

>> It's already close to sunset, when the Lupins take Remus down to the cellar, where they have prepared one relatively small room for Remus. They've enlarged it magically for a good bit. Once again Mr. Lupin explains to Remus what will happen to him:

"I'm sorry for what you will have to go through now, Remus. Also we only know the thing that will happen to you, but we don't know how it will happen to you. It must be painful though and we won't be able to be with you to hold you through that pain. We will have to protect ourselves, because the wolf that's now in you will not care that we love you, if it can get to us it will bite or kill us. Even as small as you still are. We will have to leave you alone through this night. We'll be there for you in the morning, Remus, we'll get you out of that cellar once the day has dawned and the moon has set."

Both parents hug and kiss the little boy one more time. Then Remus holds up his head and walks inside of that cellar. His father has set up candles which are floating up as close to the ceiling as they can to give him some light. As soon as Remus is inside we can see the door being closed and hear the bolts shoot and the heavy beam laid in front of the door. Remus sits down on the thick mattress laid out for him. It's covered with blankets. But Remus doesn't stay there for long. He's moving and pacing along the otherwise empty room. Finally the transformation starts. Remus screams when his body starts to be bent and pulled and formed to another shape. The process takes a good five minutes and he screams non-stop, but at the end his scream has become the howl of the wolf. Merlin, it's awful to watch. I'm only more thankful that today Remus has an Animagus form which allows him to transform painlessly before the moon rises. 

The wolf is out. He looks beautiful, all light brown. But this is a ferocious beast, not the gentle wolf we get to see these days who curls up happily in front of the fire, this could be truly the monster people say it is if left to run free. Remus stands on four legs, still a bit unsure, but the wolf is angry and rages, he howls, starts to run into the door, into the walls and sniffs for human scents. Smelling them, but not able to reach them the wolf seems to get even angrier and starts biting and scratching himself. 

"Anyone who thinks werewolves are just evil should see this once!" I exclaim.

"It might only convince some of them more, Lily," Sirius says tiredly.

I know he's defended Remus so often, so often! And equally often people have been dropping him for his love. Sirius is as much of an outcast as Remus. Or was. Not only for being the white sheep among the Blacks, but also for his loyalty to his lover, a werewolf. I know I was one to accuse him of never being able to have a lasting relationship because he was so shallow. Well, in the meantime I've learned my lesson about his ability to feel!

>> The wolf treats Remus awfully. He races around the cellar, scratches and bites himself again and again. We don't have to see the whole thing though, at some point Remus has lost consciousness and when we see the next memory he's lying in his bed, wounds healed, but he's still deathly pale and tired. Mrs Lupin sits next to him and checks him up, then helps him to sit and feeds him a broth. 

"T'as faim, mon chou?" (Are you hungry, my cabbage - the latter being a tender word used in French for someone loved) she asks him gently.

He shakes his head and sinks back into the pillows, then grabs his careworn stuffed monkey and holds it tightly. 

"Maman, je voulais mon singe avec moi..." (Mum, I wanted my monkey with me)

"Non, mon petit, je ne te le donnerai pas pour tes transformations, tu vas le crever! Et puis ton singe ne serait plus là! C'est mieux de le garder ici, t'attendant quand tu reviens le matin, crois moi." (No, my little one, I'm not giving it to you for your transformations, you'd tear it! And then it would be gone. It will be better for your monkey to wait here for you when you come back in the morning, believe me.)

Remus sighs. What a beautiful child he is.

In the next few memories we see more of that beauty. Remus becomes a very graceful child. He withdraws, only talks when his parents talk to him, but he loves to sit on his father's or mother's lap and hear them read stories for him. When they can't do that he reads himself, curled to a tiny ball on his bed or in the corner of a sofa. Sometimes he's to be found in his father's big armchair. He's easy to overlook though and once Mr. Lupin almost sits down on the little one. He pulls Remus out of the corner, sits down and lifts his son on his lap.

"Now why do you hide in that little corner there, Remus?" 

"It smells like you in the armchair," Remus mumbles.

"It smells like me? You can smell that?"

"Yes. Everyone smells different."

"Interesting. - Tell me, when you heard that conversation at St. Mungo's after you were bitten - did you hear us loud or normal or only a little?" Mr. Lupin wonders.

"Normal. Like I hear you now."

"Ah yes. That means you have the senses of the wolf, Remus. You can smell and hear much better than we normal humans."

Again there's another memory, this time of Remus' fifth birthday. It's taking place in a new surrounding and Remus doesn't feel at home yet, that much is clear. He's all alone with his parents. By right he ought to be off to school by now, but he's not been accepted into Hogsmeade Primary like Sirius and James. It's a lonely birthday, but both, Quintus and Fanny try to make it as nice for him as they can. 

After that we see a blur of memories about healers in the vain hope to find a cure for Remus. There are many who promise they can cure him, but after one of them nearly kills Remus instead, the Lupins give up. In another memory we can see how his parents take him to Switzerland. They move into a small farmhouse close to a village. It's a very friendly place. Once they have made themselves comfortable they get the visit of Carine, Mrs Lupin's sister and their three children, Céline, a year older, Yves, a few months younger and Sabine, two years younger than Remus. Carine knows what has happened to Remus.

In this memory it's summer again, so it must be before Remus turns six. Remus is extremely shy in the meantime. He takes a while to open up to Yves, who doesn't seem to be encumbered by werewolf prejudices. Once Carine has left with her children, Remus asks his mother:

"Does Yves not know that I'm a werewolf, Maman?"

"Yes, he does know, Remus. But he won't be mean to you for it. That's why we came here, you will be able to go to Muggle school here and our wizarding relatives here don't look down on you."

"I'll go to school?" Remus asks with eyes opened wide.

Mrs Lupin smiles.

"Yes, Remus. We'll go to see someone at the local authorities to see if you can start school next spring. This will be a year before the other children start here, but I think you're advanced in reading and writing, so you'll be tested to see how far advanced and then they will assign you a class. We'll tell them that you have an illness that goes with the full moon and that you will miss classes once a month."

"But isn't that like lying, Maman?"

"Not exactly. We're just not telling them the whole truth. They are Muggles, love, they wouldn't believe us anyway. Your father and I will teach you in the things magical children learn."

"I won't go to Hogwarts, no?" he asks.

"I don't think so. Armando Dippet, the headmaster, is a very prejudiced man, Remus, he'd rather kill you than let you into the school. We won't even try Beauxbatons, we know they will snob just as badly. There's no use promising you something that most probably won't happen, little one, as much as it hurts us."

"It's alright, Maman, I know..."

But Remus' sad little face is really horrible to see. It only brightens up in the next memory, which takes place at the school authorities where a nice elderly lady looks at Remus and tests him for his abilities. She looks up to Mrs Lupin.

"Madame Lupin, your son is very advanced for his age. He reads very well and his writing is like he was nine years old."

"I know. He learned to read when he was three. So, do you think he could go to school in spring?"

"Oh, I'm certain about that. He is small of size, but he's as advanced in speaking as he's in reading and writing. A very bright child you have there. In fact, he could go right now, but I would suggest we hold him back until next spring to start with a new first year class. He could go to the nursery school though."

"I know, but I'd love to keep him at home for the few months until spring. His illness shouldn't be a problem, except that he'll miss a day or two of classes once a month. This is an incurable condition unfortunately and it makes him feel awful, but it's not something deadly, so he'll just have to live with it. We will notify his teacher about his absences though."

"Good, that's all it takes. As long as he can follow the lessons I don't see a problem there. Poor dear! That must be awful for you, Remus."

"It's not nice. I hate it," he declares.

"But there's nothing we can do about it. He looks very beaten up every time, but that's just a side occurrence," Mrs Lupin explains.

"I'll study a bit harder," Remus promises.

"That's the spirit, young man! You'll be a pleasure to teach with this attitude!"

Remus and Mrs Lupin walk back to their house. Remus skips on the way, holding his mothers hand and a bit of the old cheerfulness returns. 

We come back out of the Pensieve. In a way this was as hard to watch as were Padfoot's childhood memories. Somehow I think those two were really meant for each other. Seeing them today, especially with their children, is awesome. Remus never looks tired anymore. Sirius has completely lost the haunted Azkaban look and has filled out in all the right places. They're a very good-looking couple. And Remus has overcome his being a werewolf as best as was possible and is facing a career here at the school. I do wonder if his example will be helping other werewolves. 

It's already too late for the dinner at the Great Hall. Remus goes to the kitchen and starts to fix a quick spaghetti dinner, but Winky throws him out and tells him he'd better go and take over the children for a while.


	10. Meetings and a birthday

**Tuesday, 23.2.1999 / Neville**

I haven't told anyone of the gang yet. I'm pretty sure, that I won't get the job, but I've aimed so high! On the other hand Professor Sprout has told me, that she thought I was the best who tried and I did get to the final three and was allowed to test with actual lessons. I've gone back to my work like everything would be normal, but I'm waiting for that owl... 

When I get to the breakfast table there actually is an owl waiting for me. The letter looks quite official, too. Padma, Blaise, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ernie are sitting around the table as well and when they see the letter they get curious. That's the only downside of living with a large group of people like we do. There's not much to be kept secret. I breathe hard.

"What's that, Neville?" Hermione asks softly, "It looks important."

"It is pretty important. To me anyway," I admit.

"Come on, open it, you won't know what's inside before you open it!" Ginny suggests.

"Easy for you to say," I mumble.

But then I'm taking another deep breath and open the letter. It's from the Hogwarts Board of Governors of course and I'm preparing myself for the rejection already, when I read:

"Dear Mr. Longbottom

We are pleased to inform you, that you have been chosen to be the new Assistant Teacher for Herbology at Hogwarts. You will be required to start your work on 1st April 1999. Please report to Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Sprout. You will be working with Professor Sprout for some training in teaching.

For all terms and conditions please refer to the working contract, which we will send to you in the next days. 

With our congratulations and our best wishes for your teaching career, we remain

Yours faithfully

Griselda Quirke 

Head Governor 

Hogwarts Board of Governors"

The grin that spreads on my face tells my friends that the news are good. I can't believe it! I'm going to be a teacher at Hogwarts! I'm going to be working with what I love most and what I'm really good at. And I get the extra time of almost three months to work with Professor Sprout to teach under her guidance and learn more about the teaching. It's going to be great.

"Now really, Neville, what is it?" Blaise asks impatiently.

They're all watching me. I look up at them and exclaim:

"I'm going to be a Herbology teacher at Hogwarts!!!"

Now they're staring, open-mouthed, and then Harry starts to cheer:

"Woohoo, way to go, Neville! You're going to teach Herbology? I didn't even know you applied!!!"

"I was so convinced they wouldn't choose me, I didn't want to tell you all and then be disappointed. So I didn't hold my hopes up too high. But they chose me!"

I pass the letter to Hermione, who reads it and shakes her head.

"That's so great, Neville! If anyone deserves that, it's you! Just a year out of school and you get to teach! This is incredible. Your gran is going to be so proud of you!"

"I think so, too. I'm going to see her tonight to tell her. I'll teach the first through fourth years. I still can't really grasp it! I'm so happy. I'll have to give notice to my company now. I'll hand in my resignation to the end of March. It's just in time, too, luckily I have only a delay of one month to leave."

My friends are all happy for me, too, which really pleases me. I'll move most of my stuff to Hogwarts now, but like Sirius and Remus I'll surely spend some weekends here. 

At lunch I compose my resignation letter and hand it in to my boss. She's sad that I want to go, but when I tell her why, she even beams and says:

"You still have six vacation days, Mr. Longbottom, I suggest you take them just before you leave, so your last day will be the 23rd March. Congratulations to your new position!"

"Thanks, Madam. I can hardly wait to start!"

After I'm off I'm apparating to my gran's. She expects me to dinner as always on Tuesdays. I'm taking my cloak off and hang it on the peg in the hall, then I go and greet gran, who's in the drawing room.

"Hello gran!"

"Hello Neville! You're right on time!"

I give her a peck on the cheek and say:

"I have good news for you. I'm going to Hogwarts as a teacher."

"What? You're having me on, aren't you?" she asks.

"No, I'm not. I'll be the assistant teacher for Herbology. I'll teach all first to fourth years."

While we sit down at the dinner table, I give her the letter.

"Here!"

She quickly reads over it, looks at me and smiles.

"Well done, Neville! That should suit you well, shouldn't it? But why do you start in April?"

"I'll be working together with Professor Sprout for the rest of the school year to gain more teaching experience. That's a great chance. I'll probably actually be teaching under her guidance. It will help me build up a routine, too, without being thrown into the cold water."

"Ah yes. That sounds very nice, Neville. I'm proud of you, you know! You have matured so much in the past three years. Those two rascals actually did a lot of good for you, didn't they?"

"Absolutely, gran. And now I'll work alongside them at Hogwarts. Isn't it just great? Of course there will also be four other additional teachers and a new Potions master or mistress. All core subjects will be split in a teacher for the lower and a teacher for the higher forms."

"I see. I've read that Dumbledore is retiring?"

"Yes, at the end of the school year. Professor McGonagall is taking over then and Remus will probably become Deputy Headmaster."

"Remus? Dear me..."

"You'd think that's a dangerous decision, wouldn't you? Sirius has already been given the position of the head of Gryffindor house. He's told us last weekend."

"Now that's an even more questionable choice! These students will be on a rampage!" gran says.

"I'm not so sure. He can be pretty strict, you know..."

During our meal we start to discuss the family gossip and she tells me all about the neighbours. Then we get to talk about Mum and Dad. We both visit them regularly, not on the same days now, so that they get visits more often. It's still very hard for me to see them, even though almost seventeen years have gone by since it happened. The healers told us that they probably wouldn't live as long as normal wizards do, the way their brains have been frozen makes them very vulnerable. Neither my gran nor I will want their lives be held up artificially if they can't be made better. It's hard for me, but it must be even harder for gran, since my Dad was her only child. 

**Remus**

There's an owl for me at breakfast. Sirius grins when he sees it's coming from the Board of Governors. 

"Come on, love, open it!" he urges. 

Minerva sees it, too and looks at me with interest. Then she looks around to find another owl that drops a letter to her, too. I slit the parchment envelope open and pull the letter out. It's very short:

"Dear Professor Lupin

We herewith confirm your promotion to Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts from on the next school year. Your duty will start on 21st June 1999, at the end of the summer term. 

With our congratulations and our best wishes for your teaching career, we remain

Yours faithfully

Griselda Quirke 

Head Governor 

Hogwarts Board of Governors"

I start to smile and hand the letter over to Sirius, while Minerva looks up from her own, almost identical letter and beams at me.

"There you are, Remus! No problem! They've confirmed you as Deputy Headmaster!" she says.

"I've just read the same, Minerva. That really makes me happy!"

"Well, it certainly makes me happy. I know you'll do great."

In the course of the day I receive congratulations from all of our colleagues. I'm feeling elated and I know that I'm going to have a great responsibility, first of all for the school and its students, but also for others of my kind, who will probably be able to draw hope from my career and start working for their educations and careers as well. 

In the evening we have just settled down to play with the twins, when a knock on the door announces a visitor. Sirius opens the door and lets Albus in. They both sit down on the sofa, while I remain on the carpet, where Seraina and Denny are crawling and climbing all over me. 

"Baba, baba woo!" Seraina babbles. 

I frown. What the heck does she mean?

"Good evening, Remus," Albus says.

I look up and greet him with a smile.

"Hello, Albus. Sorry, that I'm not getting up, but they are keeping me in place right now..."

"Do not worry! They are delightful, they have already grown so much."

"It's so quick, isn't it?" Sirius asks. 

"Baba, woo!!!" Seraina insists.

"Woo?"

"Woo! Moo-y!" 

"Could she mean the wolf, Remus?" Sirius suggests.

"Oh, you mean I should turn into the wolf?" I ask.

Seraina beams and nods. 

"How does she already know that the wolf and I are one and the same?" I ask and change. 

I push her lightly and Seraina falls on her little bum. Then I tickle her belly with my snout until she squeals. She giggles and then Denny joins the fray, too. Ouch! That's my whisker, Denny! I'm giving a very soft growl, which tells Sirius that he should warn the children.

"You can't pull Papa's whiskers, Denny, that hurts him!" he says promptly. 

Denny sits back down, looks at me with his head tilted and that irresistible Sirius-smile which he's already perfected. I look around and see a smiling Albus and a smirking Sirius. Then I transform back.

"No protesting, children, we have a visitor!"

Albus conjures three glasses and a bottle of champagne, pours the glasses and hands one to Sirius and I, then picks the remaining one up.

"I thought that this nomination of yours really deserved to be celebrated, Remus! I want to congratulate you and wish you all the best in that new position. I'm convinced that Hogwarts will greatly benefit from such a talented and wonderful person such as yourself! All this far apart from the fact that you have just been appointed to this position as the first werewolf ever. You have a wonderful opportunity to prove that you are not only the exception from the rule. You are undoubtedly a very special werewolf, but I am sure there would be others out there who were forced out of their jobs and lives just because they became werewolves, but who would nevertheless be as useful to society as they were before the bite. I am most happy for you to take this outstanding route! And I will probably see you one day in that office up there when I have been snoozing in my frame for a long time already."

I grin.

"I can't imagine you'll be one of the snoozers, Albus. You'll probably cause as much mischief as anyone can from out of a portrait. But I do hope that Minerva will hold out for a while. She'll do a great job."

"I am sure she will. And I am also quite sure that the two of you will be a very good team."

We are talking about all sorts of subjects for a while as we're drinking the champagne. Seraina pulls herself up on my robes and leans on my knee. Then she stretches her little hand out for my glass.

"Baba!"

I look down on her amusedly.

"Oh no, my little one, you can't have any of that. There's pumpkin juice on the table, that's what you can have."

I'm floating glass and bottle out of the reach of my babies and pick up the pitcher with the juice to pour some into a cup for Seraina. She is thirsty it seems, because she drinks some of it. 

"That's my good girl."

I pull her up on my lap and take my glass again.

"This is something you'll taste for the first time, let's say around your fifteenth birthday."

Sirius and I have noticed that our little girl is a very talkative child. She's already got a repertoire of about eight words which she uses in the right places. And she's got a whole number of random sounds. Most of those are an exact mirror of her moods. And mostly she's a very sunny child. Having seen those childhood memories of mine which I had stored away in my subconscious I have a hard time thinking that I was exactly the same before the bite. I hug my baby and kiss her on her head. 

"How I love you, my little one," I whisper.

**Albus**

It is the first time since they came to Hogwarts last September that I actually sit with them and see their interaction with their children. Remus looks like an extremely devoted father and both children cling to him quite strongly. When he takes Seraina on his lap Dennis crawls over to Sirius who promptly lifts his son up and hugs him. And when Sirius turns to me he has a very determined expression on his face. 

"I've been giving it so many thoughts since we've started to go through our memories to write that book, Albus. Remembering, consciously and unconsciously, what my parents have done to me, but not only to me, I was just worse off than Regulus, I've sworn to myself I'd never do the same. Not once in those memories did my parents hold me on their arms when I was a small child. Not once did I see any of them sooth my tears, not even when they were around when I cried. And I've also sworn to myself that I'll never mistreat any of my children with my wand. It would feel like a crime to do such a thing, and I think it probably is a crime. I've been subjected to so much domestic violence that I doubt my parents had anything like love left for me. They didn't even love Regulus or each other, they only loved themselves."

"Those memories must have been hard to bear."

"That's true, but the worst was seeing Remus' memory of when he got the bite. And the immediate aftermath. He was like Seraina is now, such a bright child, much loved by both of his parents. I was so happy to see that! And it was so good to remember Papa and Maman, how much they still loved Remus even after the bite. If anything they loved him even more. But to see the laughter vanish from Remus' face hurt so much. It hurt even more to see how his affection for others was so often rejected, because once they know many people don't see Remus the person anymore, but only Remus the wolf. In the end all comes down to giving and accepting love."

Dennis starts pulling on Sirius' long hair to gain his attention. Like his father he does not like to sit still it seems. Sirius looks at him and beams. 

"What's it, my little Marauder? - Would you like something to drink, too?"

Dennis points at the pitcher, which promptly gets lifted and pours some into a cup for him. He squeals, seeing the magic. Sirius floats the cup to his son and takes it to help Dennis drink. When Sirius puts the empty cup back on the table it starts to float again. Sirius looks from the cup to his son, then back to the cup, then grins and asks:

"Are you doing that, little imp?"

Methinks I have seen this innocent face before. It strongly reminds me of the man who now marvels at his son's first sign of magic. He kisses the baby's cheeks and says:

"Well done, Denny! Have you seen that, Remus? Denny's floated the cup!"

"Yes, and I'm still at a loss for words. He's so early!"

"He is. I don't think I've heard of many children performing magic that early," I confirm.

I do think that it has been a privilege to watch that little boy do magic. If he has got any of Sirius' talents he will be very gifted. He sits on his Daddy's lap and beams. I think that little one knows quite well what he has done. I look at him and he offers me a very lovely smile.

"You're a little imp, Denny! So nice to see you grow so fast. You're going to make us suffer with your unfocused magic."

Sirius turns back to me and explains:

"We have to float anything out of their reach now, they pull themselves up anywhere and crawl around so swiftly that we have to protect them from themselves. And always look on the floor when they're awake, lest we hit them. Their agility grows with them. And they are usually crawling precisely in the spot where we have to pass."

"Your children really look delightful, Sirius. They are so alert and friendly. Certainly very happy children."

"And we hope they'll stay that way. Remember when they were just born and you told us we're taking a very special kind of happiness home? That's exactly what we did, Albus. We took happiness home. They turned our lives upside down, but it was so worth it. To hold them and let them go, to see them lean on us and gain more and more independence is so wonderful. Even their crankiness is bearable. It was definitely our best 'rash decision' ever," Remus says with a smile. 

One thing is for sure, I have never seen Remus Lupin smile and laugh freely so often as I have seen it from him in the past half year. I suppose that he found it again the day I sent him to Switzerland with the two people he loved most. He has got two more in that category and probably a whole house full more back in that cosy farmhouse in Switzerland. I still owe Sirius for buying and renovating that house on mostly his own costs. Thank you, Alphard Black, too, because you left Sirius so much money to make him completely independent, even if he never got the Black family inheritance. They have a very nice home there. 

It is time to go back to the Great Hall for the dinner. Sirius and Remus get up, pick up the children and we walk over to the Great Hall. While we cross it between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables we look around. The general mood seems to be fine. The students greet us respectfully. 

**Friday, 26.2.1999 / Sirius**

My last period before lunch is free, so I spend the time in our office to read the mail. One of the owls I get today comes from Penelope Clearwater. She asks me for a few dates to go through some of the curriculum for the next school year. Wouldn't she be a Ravenclaw? I grin. Then I put the letter on my desk to reply. She's going to be thorough, that's for sure. Good for her students and good for me, because when I'll take over the students from her for their OWLS year they'll be well prepared. 

So far the students know nothing of the change within the staff. They have been informed that Albus is retiring, but otherwise they know nothing yet. Albus has been Headmaster for nearly thirty years now. He actually started the year we came to Hogwarts, which was 1971. Don't think of this, Sirius, that'll just remind you that you and your lover will turn forty this year! Ouch! Six years ago I was still despairing in Azkaban just before my escape. And barely six years later I'm sitting at the teacher's table in Hogwarts, already looking forward to my second year of teaching here and becoming head of my old house. Sometimes it's all overwhelming, especially when I add the twins to the mix. In two months they will be a year old! It will be on a Sunday and I suppose we'll have a birthday party for them with the gang. We could invite the Weasleys as well...

Pull yourself together, Black! I pick up quill and parchment to send a reply to Miss Clearwater. I tell her to either come to Hogwarts or come to the Sunnegg and give her my Commumirror identity to call me. Then I go through the rest of the mail, before it's time to go down to pick up the twins and go to the Great Hall for lunch. 

When Remus joins us at the table I remark:

"I think we should keep the children out of the student's part of Hogwarts until they come here, Remus. I think it's time to eat at the flat with them. Dinner in any case."

"Why do you think that?" he asks.

"I've got the feeling that they grow up privileged enough. All the teachers here are already kind of their aunts and uncles and they should still remain to be people who deserve a bit of distance and respect. I wouldn't want to have spoiled brats. So I think it would be better to keep them from going to the student's area completely."

He thinks about my arguments.

"Yes, you might be right. But then I'm afraid we'd have to separate, because I should be here for the meals. And at least one of us should eat with them."

Didn't think of that! Bugger! That will be hard. 

"I'll do it. If Minerva allows it you could still be with us for dinner. They really need us still. I don't just want to leave them to Winky, even though she does a marvellous job with them during the day."

I watch Seraina neatly picking a bit of potato from her plate. She's getting the hang of this fast! I put down my fork to help her with the cup. She drinks and looks up to me, promptly swallows wrong and starts to cough. I put the cup back on the table, pull the plate away from her and take her from her chair to hold her over my arm and lightly pat her on the back. Then I have to clean her up of course. I lift her up and look at her.

"Everything okay again, love?" I ask.

She looks okay in any case. I sit her in the high chair again, give her a bit of a carrot and she munches it, swallows correctly and stretches her arm out for the cup again.

"But you have to look at the cup, not at me, sweetie," I remind her. 

This time she drinks neatly. 

After the meal we take them both back to the flat and they go for their afternoon nap. Remus and I get ready for the two last lessons of this week. I have the Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh years. They are all busy with advanced and more complex potions, for which they need more than the two periods today. Luckily there are always cooling periods, so their potions will be stored until next Wednesday, when they can go one step further and finally next Friday, when they should be able to finish them.

At the end of the lesson I'm returning to the office to pick up the letter for Miss Clearwater and call a house-elf to take it to the owlery. This done I gather an essay I have to grade in my briefcase. Remus comes in from his last class and prepares what he needs over the weekend then we go down to see whether the twins are already awake from their nap. Usually they take quite a long nap in the afternoon, but we don't let them sleep longer than four in the afternoon or they won't sleep for ages at night. 

They're both still asleep. We open the curtains in both rooms and do it a bit noisily, then we let in some fresh air. That wakes them up, but usually not too abruptly. When I turn back from the window, Seraina is rubbing her eyes with her little fists. She looks up at me, beams and pulls herself up. 

"Hey, my sweet! Let's get you ready for the Sunnegg! We'll see most of the gang tonight! And Auntie Lily and Uncle James..."

I take off her sleeping bag and get her dressed in warm clothes. It's freezing cold outside. Fifteen minutes later we're all ready to leave the castle. Remus puts Seraina in the carrier I have on my back, I reciprocate with Denny who gets to ride with Papa. Then we pick up our briefcases and the brooms and off we are. Outside the gates we disapparate straight to the Sunnegg. 

It seems that we're the first ones to arrive. Morag sits at the dining table working on some school assignment. She smiles when we turn up. 

"Hey there!" she calls.

"Hello, Morag! Had a good week?"

"Full of work, but quite good. I'll be out tomorrow, we have some classroom lessons. That's why I'm still working on this thing here. Maths is not my favourite subject!" she pouts a little.

"Never liked it too much myself, Morag. I know how you feel," Remus says with a soft laugh.

We free the children from their carriers and let them crawl on the carpet. Morag packs up her things and says:

"Well, I need to have a bit of quiet for this, so I'll relocate to my room. Sorry to flee you guys, but I have to get this done. Seraina and Denny get cuter every time I see them! What are you doing with them, are you using magic to make them so beautiful?"

We grin. It's true, we do have handsome children. 

"I think the proper term for what we use would be 'love', Morag," I say. 

"Sounds like magic," she replies.

"Sounds? It definitely is magic, believe me," Remus confirms.

She laughs and leaves for her room on the other side of the house. Remus and I unpack the small bag with the indispensable baby paraphernalia and spread what the children like most on the floor, the rest is for their beds. They start to play now, really play, even though they usually won't last long with one thing. And there are first little sibling fights. Sometimes it's not done with giving them both the same item, if one has something the other one wants it's of absolutely no importance that there is a second - and exactly same - item around, it has to be that particular item. Which is when we have to interfere and distract them to something else. 

When James turns up we ask him to watch them for a while, so we can go and get into some more comfortable clothes.

**Saturday, 27.2.1999 / Morag**

Apparating is just wonderful! If my classmates from all over Switzerland knew that I'm still lounging in bed with my girlfriend half an hour before classes started I'm sure they would be bloody envious. But I'm keeping that knowledge to myself of course. I'm usually apparating directly from either the Sunnegg or Nicole's flat to a little used restroom in the school building and have yet to meet someone. 

It's not really classes in the regular sense. Sometimes it's tests, sometimes it's question hour, so we can bring up things we haven't clearly understood from the documents we received and sometimes we exchange book recommendations. If it's for questions it comes closest to classes. I take extensive notes and secretly set my wand on recording mode, a charm I've got from Blaise, so that I can pass it on to a dictaquill at home. He says they all use these methods at the Academy, so why shouldn't I? I just have to be up front in the classroom, so that I can set up my wand in a way no one else can see it. I started to use baskets, where I can leave a little scarf and hide my wand with that. It's open, it's practical and the wand can pick up the voice of the teacher easily. 

I've got myself a good routine by now, but it takes an awful lot of self discipline to keep up the work. On some days I go home to Mum, but I always take some of my work with me. Shows her that I'm not just biding my time, but that I'm really working. She's pretty nice about it though. In the meantime I've told her about my relationship with Nicole, too. She's been shocked, of course, but if she doesn't want to lose me she's not showing disgust. 

**Wednesday, 3.3.1999 / Harry**

The breakfast table is pretty flooded with owl posts this morning. They're all from Bill and Fleur who invite us to their wedding on the 22nd May in Paris. In Paris! Wow! That'll be great! It's a Saturday, and if I can get Hermione to skive Friday and Monday then we could make ourselves a mini-vacation there! I can always copy Marc's notes from the Academy. 

When Hermione sits down at the breakfast table I watch until she's read the invitation. 

"Wow! In Paris! That sounds great! What do you think? Do we stay for a long weekend?"

I grin. She's thinking the same! 

"Definitely. If we skive off Friday and Monday we can ask Marc for the full set of notes and copy them. Then we can read up. Tuesday is barely any lectures anyway so we should be done by Friday."

"You've already planned it all out!" she pouts.

Then we both laugh, because sometimes we're really thinking the same. I lean over and catch her lips for a kiss. 

"Mmmm, better 'n breakfast," she mumbles.

Definitely better than breakfast. I kiss her some more. Only now I have that little problem to carry around all day. Sigh!

We end up asking Marc in advance for the notes. He thinks we're crazy and says:

"Tell me the day before you leave, guys! You know I'll forget until then..."

"Just wanted to warn you, mate!" I reply.

And then we choose a nice hotel and book a suite for four nights. We'll apparate on Thursday evening and return on Monday evening. 

I also call Remus on the Commumirror to check if he's okay after the full moon last night. A pretty busy day and I don't mind at all that I'm pounced on coming into my room in the late afternoon. The one who jumps on me is a fairly hairy grey wolf who first of all gives my face a thorough lick with her rough tongue. I grin, but shove her off me.

"Now I need a bath!" I protest, but all I get is a very toothy grin. 

I hug her. She's so beautiful and I usually love it when she's transforming into the wolf. But now I feel a bit tired and so I go down to the bathroom, which we have magically enlarged to have enough space for a biiig bathtub. Hermione follows me, transforms and grins.

"I'm coming right with you!"

More magic helps to fill the tub fast. Both of us shed our clothes and hop in the water. Mm, this is nice. Let's get washed and then I'll have my nice little wicked way with my little she-wolf. Though she looks like her good predatory self today, maybe she rather has her wicked way with me! I lean in one of the corners of the tub and she turns around to straddle me and sit on my lap. Her wet hair clings to her skin and reaches almost the small of her back. She has pretty, full breasts and two lovely dark rosy nipples on them. I lift my hands to press my thumbs on them and watch how they harden within seconds. She straightens up her back and presses against my thumbs, then she leans forward and kisses me. Her arms come around me and arousal trickles through my body like a drop of wax along a candle. It slowly spreads and speeds up the closer it gets to my cock. Our tongues can't stop to duel, our mouths aren't really enough. Gods, I love this woman! 

When she finally lets go she throws a quick glance down and the next moment I feel myself inside of her. She pulls me a bit away from the edge and wraps her legs around me. I press my hand between our bodies to reach her clit. At that moment she says:

"Harry, my potion needs to be taken again in the next days. Do you want me to take it?"

"Takes care of it for another half year, doesn't it?" I ask.

She nods.

"Do you want to?" I ask.

"Not really. I'd love to make you a father and if I don't take the potion it's pretty certain that I'll be pregnant within a fairly short time. Only it'd make our work to study a bit harder."

"It's March now, so if you leave it and get pregnant, say within a month or two that would be around the end of the year... not a bad time..."

"In the middle of the Academy year, but I thought that we'd have the hardest part behind us by the time we go into final exams..."

I push a little against her. She clamps her muscles and gives me some extra friction. I pull her close and kiss her again. It would be special. After four years of carefully preventing a pregnancy we'd deliberately try to get there... and I know we both really want it. Financially there's no question, we're both very independent and can afford to have a baby. But I suppose we'd have to get our own place then. This here is good, but with a baby? 

"There are other things we'd have to consider, love. Where to live..."

"We could move over to the Stöckli. It's by far big enough to hold us, Winky and Dobby..."

I grin. Didn't think of that! 

"Hey, you're right. You've been thinking of this, haven't you?"

"'Course. You should know me by now."

"I really should. I love you, 'Mione. If you really feel ready, then I'd say, don't take the potion this time."

She kisses me again.

"So Minerva will have reasons to sigh about having a Potter, a Lupin and a Black around again after all..." she says.

I laugh. Oh, that should be so much fun. We keep slowly rocking each other until we get close and with a few harder thrusts we're both tumbling over the edge. Merlin, it feels so good. Who can live without it?

She leans her head on my forehead and holds me tightly. I suggest a daytrip to Paris to find the perfect hotel for our little get-away in May. 

"Jolly good idea."

"Next Saturday?"

"We don't have anything else, yes, next Saturday, if you like."

"We'll look at all the stuffy old-fashioned ones..." I suggest.

She nods. Then she lets go of me, we get up and climb out of the tub, then drain it and dry ourselves with a quick spell. Did I ever mention how I love magic? How handy can you get? A wave of your wand and your hair is dry and even brushed, a wave of your wand and the bathroom is perfectly clean for the next user... we slip our dressing gowns on and go back up to our room to get dressed. Dinner is calling.

**Friday, 5.3.1999 / Sirius**

I'm on my way down to our flat to leave for the Sunnegg when my Commumirror rings. I fish it out of my pocket. 

"Hello, Mr. Black, I got your owl, thanks for that quick reply. When could I come by?"

"Hello, Miss Clearwater! Do you have any free time over the weekend?"

"Yes, all of Sunday."

"If you don't mind to come then, you're welcome to come and see us at the Sunnegg, that's our home in Switzerland. Coordinates are 47°1' north and 7°32' east. Would eleven in the morning suit you? I'll wait for you on that apparition point then, as it's not precisely where we are."

"I've noted that down, Mr. Black, I'll be there at that time."

"Fine!"

It'll be nice to work with her, she sounds like a very nice person. Any girl who could get Percy 'Stiff as a board' Weasley to kiss in the halls of Hogwarts must have something good about her.

"Who's that you've just invited to the Sunnegg?" Remus asks, closing up to me.

I grin.

"Penelope Clearwater. She wants to go over the curriculum we will teach. I think, it's an excellent idea to coordinate what we will cover."

"Yes, I should do that, too. Did you ask her or did she ask you?"

"She asked me. Sounds very organised."

Remus grins.

"Yeah, she could be a twin sister of Hermione's in that regard. Superb student she was and quite a fun one, too. Ravenclaws sometimes have more mischief in them than we'd give them credit for..."

"That's true. I just thought that she must be special, after all she managed to get Percy to kiss her in the halls of Hogwarts! Would never have thought he'd do that!"

"Well, he's been in Gryffindor after all AND he's got some of his mother's traits, too!"

Both laughing, we finish the trip down to our flat, where we pick up the twins and head on to the Sunnegg, where we are welcomed by a larger part of the family. 

**Sunday, 7.3.1999 / Sirius**

The apparition point I've given Miss Clearwater is about three kilometres away from the house, but on the road, so I take one of the cars there and wait for her next to it. It's not a populated bit of forest path, so no one is around, when she apparates in, on the spot at eleven. She looks around and discovers me quickly. She smiles, waves and comes over.

"Hi! Thanks for coming with the car, this looks like an area for which I haven't dressed up correctly..." she says.

We shake hands and I grin.

"Hi! Call me Sirius, please! I couldn't give you an apparition point in the middle of the town, sorry. We're country folks these days!"

I open the door of the passenger seat for her and she climbs in, then I close the door, walk around the car and get to the driver's seat. We drive the short bit back up the hill and once we're out of the forest she's delighted.

"This looks like one hell of a beautiful area! Oh, and by the way, call me Penelope, or Penny, please. Would be rather stupid if I called you by your first name and you called me formally Miss Clearwater."

"Wouldn't want that, you're right. It would sound rather stupid. Well, up there's the farmhouse."

A moment later I park the car next to the house. She gets out of the car, looks around and says:

"Wow! No wonder you come here for the weekends. I would, too, it's so beautiful! Are those your famous Swiss mountains?" 

"They certainly are."

"It's beautiful! And that's the house you kept as a safe house, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's it. Easy to see why we love it? So much, that all of the students from back then still have their rooms here and come home as often as they can. Well, come on inside!"

I open the glass door to the living room for Penny and wait until she's entered.

"It gets better and better. You must give me the grand tour, Sirius!"

"Right after I introduce or re-introduce you to everyone who's at home. This was the classroom until last summer. Now it's been modified to serve as living and dining room. Well, you already know most of the people here, I suppose..."

Half of the family still lounges around the dining table and enjoys breakfast which is more like lunch as it's so late. 

"Everyone, you remember Penelope Clearwater? She was in Percy's year in Ravenclaw and she'll be the new Transfiguration teacher for the first to fourth years from the next term."

They look around and smile a welcome at Penny. I introduce them quickly and they shake hands. The little ones come crawling around the corner of one of the sofas. Penny smiles when she sees them.

"Oh, aren't they just the cutest little ones! Hello, there! Who might you be?" she coos.

Denny is the quicker one and reaches me first, but Seraina follows right behind. They're quick on their hands and knees now. Both pull themselves up on my jeans now and stare at Penny.

"Well, the little lady here is Seraina Lupin and this one is Dennis Black. They share their birth mother, so they're half twins. They'll be a year old in barely two months."

"Gods, they're cute. It's great that you have children!"

Remus comes in from the kitchen.

"Oh, there you are! I thought I heard you. Hello, Penelope," he greets her.

"Hello, Professor Lupin. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you! Call me Remus, please, we'll be colleagues soon, I hear!"

"Yes, and I'm really looking forward, Hogwarts really has a great faculty right now," she replies excitedly.

"You'll fit in very well! As you can see we're having a late breakfast, but it's called brunch here, so can I offer you something for it or do you just come from breakfast? We love to hang around late on Sundays."

"I've just had breakfast, thank you so much."

"Well, would you like to start right away and then socialise or the other way round?" I ask.

"I think I'd like to start right away. I'm sure some of you will still be here afterwards..."

"You bet. I set everything up in the study. - Oh, but you asked for a grand tour. Well, as you can see this large room has been used as the classroom and if you walk up these lovely stairs you come to the library..."

I go ahead and she follows me, curious that we have a whole library here. 

"This is great! A good place to study..."

"You bet. And the drawers contain the complete Hogwarts library in miniature format. The kids had to use retrieval spells and enlarge everything, the books they used were just put in the shelves as long as there's space. They haven't quite filled all the available space, but as you can see they were pretty busy."

"The complete Hogwarts library? Including the restricted section?"

"Well, the books from the restricted section are stored in our study. The same rule went for the use of them that was applied at Hogwarts, but we have been much less strict, they had to ask what they were looking for and we helped search. I don't remember them looking for something very often. But of course we locked the study with locking spells that were personalised, so only Moony or Padfoot could open them. Moony also can't be fooled by Harry's Invisibility Cloak, he's got a too fine sense of smell."

"I see. And what's on the upper level?"

"A common room. When we still used the large room as a class room, we didn't have enough space to be together in the living room and the front room, so we had a common room set up here..."

I lead the way. The common room is still one room where a telly is set up and through silencing spells someone can watch telly without disturbing others down in the living room or be disturbed by them. Draco, Ron and Justin watch a downhill race when we get there.

"Hi!" Draco says.

"Hi - don't I remember you guys? You're Ron, that much I remember..."

"Hi Penny! What are you doing here?" Ron asks. 

He gets up and shakes hands with Penny.

"Discuss some stuff with my soon to be colleague..."

"Oh, I forgot, you're going to be the other Transfigurations teacher, aren't you?"

"That's right."

"Well, this is Draco Malfoy and this is Justin Finch-Fletchley. You might have seen Justin at the Burrow, he's my lover..." Ron explains.

"I thought I should know you! Sorry, Justin..."

"That's alright."

"So, who's winning?" I ask Draco.

"The same as always... Eberharther. The guy is hard to beat this season..."

He also gets up to shake Penny's hand.

"Hi Penelope. Pleased to meet you. Though I think I remember you, you were a prefect, weren't you? Ravenclaw..."

"Good memory. I was, yes. Pleased to meet you, too, Draco. Don't I remember you as a fairly spoilt brat? But then you were in your second or third year when I was in my last, so you might have grown out of that..."

"I do hope so! Yes, I was. But it's in the past."

"Fine..."

"Well, that's the middle part of the house... let's go down, then I can show you the rest." I say.

We go back down and I point to the back of the house:

"This used to be the stables, now it contains a load of bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms. Apart from Hermione and Harry they all have their bedrooms over there. We go this way, please..."

I guide Penny through the door to the kitchen.

"This is the old part of the farmhouse, so to speak. We haven't done anything to it apart from furnishing it. Here is the main bathroom, which had been built in a couple of years before we moved in. At the same time the former owners had the kitchen redone. When we were teaching our class we all ate here. Enough space, luckily, but now we've made the table slightly shorter."

The four Hogwarts houses are still represented through the flags. Penny points at it and smiles.

"That's nice - you've hung all the house flags..."

"Yes, that was done right when we started. We had them from their fifth year, most of them spent a part of the summer break here already, so for a welcoming feast we hung up all the flags, since all four houses were represented in our group. It's a good feeling to see them together, Penny! Just now you've had Draco, Ron and Justin peacefully together. Draco and Ron would almost kill each other back at Hogwarts, they became friends quite soon here."

"Draco is a Slytherin, isn't he?"

"Yes. There were three of them, two Hufflepuffs, two Ravenclaws and six Gryffindors."

"And that went well?"

"That went well. Mainly because Remus and I didn't play favourites. We're both Gryffindors. But we really tried to be fair, encouraged them and managed to uphold peace quite well. Have to say that Blaise Zabini and Morag MacDougal are both very nice people, they're the other Slytherins. - Anyway, up the stairs are more bedrooms, Moony and I have our room there and the twins have each a room, there's another bathroom and on the top floor are Harry and Hermione and Ginny still has her room there. Though she and Ernie mostly use his room at the back of the house."

We go into the front room.

"That's what we call the front room. Small living room and we've got the computer set up here. Then this is our small living room. You probably see what I mean. Not enough space to have fifteen people in here and still feel well. That's why we had the idea with the common room. On one side it gave Moony and I privacy and it was cosy when just a small group was in here at times. We didn't keep them out. They also spent a lot of time at the table in the kitchen which was ideal to play games. And here's our destination, the study."

"This is one hell of a lovely place, Sirius! I envy you! It has a lot of style. Beautiful. No wonder you feel so happy here."

"It shows, doesn't it? I love it here. After two years on the run, which I spent mostly in my dog form, this was like heaven! That I shared it with Moony and at first Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron made it even better. I was still on the run, technically, but out of immediate danger. It gave me the peace I needed to gain distance to the horrors of that place... I survived Azkaban, but barely. I'm still having issues, but they don't hurt as much anymore. Especially with the twins I'm totally happy now. Nothing that one of the little blighters can't make better... talking of the wolf... there's a little one. I think, that's the cutest thing about them, when they come and look around a corner now. There's so much mischief in their looks."

"They are really cute!"

"Well, let's get started. You can take my desk here, I'll take Remus'; we've cleared the space so we can go through. These are the requirements for the different years. I've only taught fifth, sixth and seventh years so far, so I have to go through this like you have to."

"There's a general list of techniques that should be taught. And in every technique there are a number of suggested transfigurations to try..."

"And that precisely gives you room to play. Minerva is a great teacher, but she's made the mistake of replaying her thing every year and it showed, if you ask me. She also had the tendency to drone and if you weren't naturally gifted for the subject you had a hard time with her. I think you did that a lot better, by the way. The kids were really interested and didn't only learn, they had fun learning."

"I'll have to drone with some of the theory though..."

"Do it as little as possible. You have half a year of time to prepare your basic lessons. I'll go through the syllabus and see if I find different things to transfigure every year, if the seventh years can tell the first years the very thing they're going to work with it's not exactly fun..."

She laughs.

"That's right of course. There's always new ideas in Transfiguration Today. And it shouldn't be a problem to vary the actual things we transfigure, you're right about that."

"I found that I move best if I make them read for homework rather than write essays all over the place. And then I can go through the theory by bombarding them with questions rather than lecturing. But that's just me, I'm not really that good at lecturing. Also I like the interaction with the students. It makes the lessons more alive and keeps them on the subject. Demonstrating and hands on work also well for me. Essays I usually only gave them once a certain subject was done. Sometimes I give the essay right in the beginning, but tell them I only want it when the respective subject has been treated. Since I've learned every trick in the book when I was a student and still remember them I often give them the subject for the essay, but make it different for all of them by choosing different objects, say if I make them write an essay about a certain technique I want them to write their essay specifically on a certain object and let them pull their 'object' out of a hat. You should have seen the hurt look in Ron's eyes when I did that the first time! I laughed straight out."

"That's good! This way copying is impossible... so you copied homework?"

"All the time. Moony, our friends James Potter and Peter Pettigrew and I practically only did one quarter of the homework. We always shared. Just a word different here or there and hardly any teacher ever noticed. Isn't that amazing?"

She laughs.

"They must have been half sleeping every time they corrected such work."

"Must have. I think, I'd notice when I'd read the same thing the third or even fourth time. I always wondered, that Minerva didn't notice! She's usually alert as a hawk, but you'll see that if you have to read hundreds of students' essays every year you get a little inattentive too," I explain with a grin.

"I'm warned then. So you're not exactly the best example for your students..." she remarks.

"Definitely not a model student when it came to behaviour and work ethics, no! But that enables me to spot it among my students, and quick, believe me! They don't prank Moony or me. And to my defence I have to say that I did study quite a lot. Just not publicly, that could have damaged my reputation."

Again she laughs, but then we get more concrete and go through the spell-work for all seven years. 

"I'm going to offer an extra curricular Animagus course for the sixth years. Of course that's not for everyone, but when you're treating Animagi in third year, I'd like you to use the notes we took during our Animagus-training with our sixth years here. In third year you're not really going in depth. I'll handpick the best of the students who will be offered the course. After I've trained other Animagi I'm very confident this will be a good thing."

"You already trained Animagi? I know that you are one yourself, but you trained others? Wow! That's never heard of, Sirius!"

I grin.

"James, Peter and I became Animagi in our fifth year to be able to help Remus during his transformations. He went through hell every month, Penny! It was one of the worst things to see him suffer and to know that being alone in all of this was about the worst thing for him. Once we had mastered the transformation we joined him on full moon nights and had a couple of very happy romps in the Forbidden Forest!"

"You did everything in the book of forbidden things at Hogwarts it seems, eh?" she asks.

"You bet! Believe me, Filch was everything but happy when he learned that Remus and I, two of the terrible Marauders, were coming back to Hogwarts to teach! He still keeps all the files from our 'sins' and believe me, we must have filled at least two or three drawers in his office!"

Penny laughs straight out and her mirth doesn't die down for quite a while, but then she says:

"Who would have thought that our quiet, studious, kind and mild mannered Professor Lupin was such a school terror!"

"Oh, he was and he wasn't. He was the well behaved one and exactly as quiet, studious, kind and mild mannered as you know him. That's his mask! It's the result of a self control that couldn't be stricter. He's learned to keep himself in control this way after he was bitten by the werewolf, you know. But underneath there was one mischievous little fellow, a very sneaky one. Many teachers never believed he could really be a part of the Marauders. For every detention he got, Peter had two and James and I had about three or more. Remus' pranks were the best we ever pulled and they were mostly the ones that couldn't be traced back to us!"

"Wow, you must really have wreaked havoc in that castle."

"Ask Minerva one of these days. I can tell you exactly how she will react: first she'll sigh deeply. Then she'll tell you to beware, because we're still as dangerous as back then. Finally she'll tell you how we lost points by the dozen only to get them back and more with perfect homework or excellent practical work or correct answers. Or through Quidditch..."

Penny shakes her head and still giggles a little. 

"Oh, I remember when Harry turned up with that Firebolt! I went over to the Gryffindor table to look at it, before he played Ravenclaw! And he really knew how to fly it! Cho wouldn't have had a chance!"

"I saw that match. In my dog form..." 

"You did? I remember it was the year you escaped from Azkaban and they all thought you'd come to Hogwarts to kill Harry..."

"Only I was after a rat, not Harry. I was actually only trying to make sure nothing happened to Harry. But since I'd just escaped that dreadful place I wasn't quite mentally stable and my main thoughts were about catching Peter Pettigrew in his rat form to finally commit at least one of those murders I'd been imprisoned for."

She shudders. It is a frightening story and it's a very frightening part of my life, so I'm usually not painting it in softer colours, because I think I need people to know how horrible I felt back then. 

"Hard to believe that this was only six years ago," I say in a low voice.

"You're certainly looking about a hundred times better than on this awful picture..." Penny remarks.

"Thanks. They didn't quite get my chocolate side, did they? I must have looked like a real scare-crow. And I also felt that way. You don't want to know how I survived those two years on the run. They were almost as bad as Azkaban. Almost only because I was at least outside and going my own way. But I wasn't free by any means."

"I don't want to imagine how that felt, Sirius. I've heard such dreadful things about Azkaban. And the Dementors! Merlin, we were scared of them, even we seventh years tried to stay far away from them!"

"Can I say I understand that so well? Anyway, yes, to come back to your question of about fifteen minutes ago, I trained the whole gang here to become Animagi and I was successful. Even Remus is one now."

Remus knocks on the door and looks inside:

"Anyone for a cup of tea?"

"Oh, that would be nice, Remus, thanks so much!" Penelope says, looking pleased.

"I'll be right back!"

After that we go back to set up the plan of what to teach when. We get through pretty soon and Penny puts all of her notes away. 

"I'll be free to come up to Hogwarts mid-August. Want a bit of vacation before starting."

"You're certainly doing the right thing there. We'll probably not be at the castle before mid-August either. Remus has some Deputy Headmaster duties, like the Hogwarts letters which have to be prepared, seventh years files have to be archived and the new ones for the first years established, Muggle-born first years must be visited, booklists for the returning students put together etc. That's for the first two weeks, then we'll be gone for three weeks to lounge on some beach and play with our children and then we'll be back one or two weeks before the term starts. Going back and fourth between here and Hogwarts that is."

"Sounds quite busy..."

"Add to that a job I'll still have to do. I haven't set one foot into my parents' house since I left it at sixteen. Both my parents have died and I suppose no one has been in that wretched house for years. So I'll have to go and look it through and see if anything like a will from my father or mother can be found. There are a number of Gringotts vaults in the mix as well, and that needs to be cleared as well..."

"Oh, that sounds like a bit of work, too."

"A bit? It's going to be a nightmare of a task, that house is old and huge. But it needs to be done. Oh well..."

Penny bids goodbye to all of us after that conversation and we're assembling for dinner soon after that. 

**Saturday, 20.3.1999 / Hermione**

I've not taken the potion. Two days after our little bath together my period started. That would mean these days now can be the dangerous days... well, would be, normally, now I'm feeling strangely careless and as I'm pulling Harry in my arms after going to bed I try to work out if this is going to feel different, now that we actually want something to happen. I'm not telling him, I know he's fairly oblivious about the whole concept of the female cycle. Of course he knows the theory, but since he's sort of surprised every time I'm telling him that my period has started I don't expect him to know when I'm ovulating. 

But maybe I'm giving it away by my behaviour, because I'm pulling him on top of me. That's not usually my favourite position. He gazes down at me, puzzled.

"Since when do you like it this way?" he asks and leans in for a kiss.

"Occasionally I do... I do like to feel your weight on me," I remark.

"Mind you, I'm not complaining. Gives me some more control for once..." he grins.

I'll tell him. Afterwards. Now I can't really think of anything but feeling him. Three and a half years after our first sexual experiments we're a pretty experienced couple and we know exactly what buttons to press and when. Before we press those buttons we can just enjoy ourselves and feel. 

When we finally collapse in a heap of limbs and hold each other for a last kiss before falling asleep I'm telling him:

"It's the days I could conceive right now, Harry... your last chance to back out if you prefer to wait with a baby."

His face splits into a wide grin. He pulls me even closer and places a couple of kisses on my neck and my mouth, then he whispers:

"No way! I'm daring, Hermione, and I can't wait until we hit!"

"Oh, Harry! I feel the same... I want to give that to you so much. And to myself of course. It will be so much fun to see our child grow up with Sirius' and Remus'! And hopefully with a few of our friends' as well... though we might have to try a few times, before we hit, mind you!"

"Who cares! It is somehow not the same when I know that you have no protection right now. And I really like that 'devil-may-care' attitude you have right now."

**Harry**

She's hit me with that one! I could sing, though... what an amazing feeling to be inside her with the knowledge that we want to let happen what we normally prevent. I'm holding Hermione in my arms after the sex and we're kissing and caressing each other for a long time. I've always thought I was leaning to be very tender, but I think I'm even more tender with her right now. One of these days she's going to conceive our baby... in my mind it's already taking form! Not only an amazing, but still such a strange and already familiar feeling. I wonder why? We thought that being around Seraina and Denny would help us wait until after the academy, but we have both decided we don't want to wait. So that must mean we're both ready to start the family. It's certainly too early to decide on the size we want to have for our family, but I know for sure I don't want an only child. And I have the suspicion that the same goes for Hermione. We know that we have a fair amount of time, so we can space out our children a bit. According to Madam Pomfrey witches can have children until at least the age of eighty. It's an incredible concept, but only now it becomes clear to us that we have the chance to live twice as long as normal people! Once we understood that we understood why it would be no problem to have children at such an advanced age. If you get to live until you're 170 or so then you've just spent one third of your life at sixty! I've never even thought about that, even though I knew that Professor McGonagall was over eighty, Professor Flitwick something over 110 and Professor Dumbledore has a good 150 years in his bones and still seems to be quite well.

Anyway... our sex has yet again another quality. It's nothing different actually, but I do think there's something like more 'depth'? More sentiment in any case! Hey, it's her who should be attacked by the hormones, not me, or is it? Or why am I so maudlin? Argh!

The word cherish has a new value in our relationship. 

**Wednesday, 24.3.1999 / Remus**

I really dislike to leave my family behind to attend meals in the Great Hall. We've decided to start and keep the twins away from the main school. They're not supposed to grow up privileged, they'll have it a bit easier than other children anyway once they will come here. But it's hard to leave them behind. It's also hard not to share my meals with my lover. Sirius is certainly doing the right thing. One of us should stay with them and I'll skive dinner as often as I can. 

"Remus, where are Sirius and the little ones?" Minerva asks.

"We're not taking them out here for the meals anymore, Minerva. They start to really take in their surrounding now and we'd prefer them to stay out of the main parts of the school. We want them to discover Hogwarts when they get here as students, that will be early enough."

"Ah! Very reasonable! You're right about that. It would only spoil it for them and they wouldn't even know."

"That's it."

"But why aren't you with them?" she asks on.

"I thought at least one of us should be out here..."

"You should be with your family, Remus! At least for the dinner."

"I will be. I'm missing them awfully!"

Minerva laughs.

"You're one great and devoted father, Remus! I'm sure you're doing great with your little ones."

"Thank you, I think, we're getting on quite well with them. But so far they're making it quite easy. I really don't know what we did to have such lovely children!"

She smiles.

"They are quite extraordinary, Remus. Maybe because they have extraordinary parents?"

"Oh, I'm quite convinced they will be a handful sooner or later. But for the moment they are really still little darlings." 

Neville and Edith Sprout come to the teacher's table. Neville is all smiles.

"Hello Neville! How did your first morning as a teacher go?" I ask while he sits down a few places away from me. 

"Just great! All sixth and seventh years. Though it was a bit strange to teach them when less than a year ago they were still my classmates."

He starts chatting about his morning's experiences and I ask him a few questions. I'm glad he's found a new home here. I do think he will do very well as a teacher and he's really in his element. 

**Wednesday, 31.3.1999 / Remus**

A 'blue moon' today. The second this year. That really doesn't happen very often, but if there's a blue moon in January there's always one in March as well. For some reason unknown to me these are always a bit more difficult than regular full moons. I wonder why, really, but every time I have transformed on a blue moon my transformations have been extremely violent. Now with the wolfsbane potion and the Animagus transformation it shouldn't be as bad. I still cancel tomorrow's morning classes and give all those students extra homework to do in the periods they'd normally have lessons. That's no problem with the fifth years, I can call on the prefects to hold the class together and either order them to work in the Great Hall or in the classroom. Then the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff classes shouldn't be too bad either, these first and second years are eager to learn and curious. The third year Gryffindors and Slytherins will be a bit more difficult, so I check where the older students of these houses are in that period and find out that Sirius has the sixth years. I ask him to send two of the prefects to check on the class which I have ordered to stay in the classroom. 

"No problem, love, I'll have them check on the kids."

The weather is ghastly, so we don't even plan to go out. It's been windy and rainy almost all month long, everything around the castle seems to be moist and even colder than usual. I'm shuddering at the mere thought of having to transform without my Animagus. I've asked Sirius to set an alarm for me before the moonset, so I can concentrate on keeping the wolf form beyond. Even though coming back to my human form is less bad than transforming into the wolf it leaves me weak and hurt and exhausted for hours. 

**Thursday, 1.4.1999 / Remus**

It's been better than expected. Moony has been well behaved, I've slept most of the night and most of it next to my lover. I've transformed early enough for the children to still be around, but they're usually unfazed. They just seem to take that as a part of our family. I'm always a bit anxious when they come close, but as much as I feel of Moony during the full moon nights he knows very well that these are our 'cubs' and that he has to protect, not endanger them. 

The alarm has given me enough time to concentrate on holding the wolf form past the moonset. That means I was able to transform back through the Animagus spell and that again meant no pain. There are no words to express my gratitude to Sirius for pushing me to try this. I now know that there are two ways of making life more normal for me and both work together smoothly. I still get the wolfsbane potion from Sirius, Hermione and Ginny, they have continued to brew it in turns. Ginny has told me that she's making larger batches and that she's brewing it every month for the Werewolf Support Unit. Mandy gives it to those werewolves who can't afford it or brew it themselves. I think, Hermione has joined Ginny in doing that. The good thing is that they will keep the routine of making it. 

Right after turning myself back I'm cuddling deep under my duvet again and fall asleep.

**Sunday, 25.4.1999 / Sirius**

One year! Our children are one year old and today is their first birthday! Last night we've decorated the living room in the brightest colours and today we expect some of our friends for their first birthday party. Remus and I dress the twins in robes. Seraina's are a lovely forest green and Denny's are a fiery red. Of course there's quite a few pictures that have to be taken. I have no idea whether the children understand what's going on, but it does look like they do enjoy the attention they get. We have to watch over them very well, because Denny, once he's noticed how he can levitate something, has tried it all over the place with smaller and sometimes larger objects. We have to prevent accidents! It's impossible to explain to a one year old that he can't do any magic yet, though of course he can. I can only hope it's a phase like Albus has assured us it mostly is. 

Arthur and Molly Weasley come in with their family. Fred, George and Angelina are with them and it's actually Angelina's first visit here. Everyone greets her with glee and comments on how good she looks. Her baby is due end of July or beginning of August and she already shows quite nicely. She's more than halfway through the pregnancy and seems to feel perfectly fine.

"I'm still training - much to Molly's dismay, but I do think that a fit mother will have it easier when it's about giving birth! Of course our beaters keep out when I'm in the air, so there won't be an accident with a Bludger. But the flying and some of the physical workout is doing me a lot of good. My mediwitch tells me I'm perfectly fine every time I show up for the checks," Angelina says.

"And when will you get married?" Parvati asks.

"Already done. Just a short bit among Fred, myself, George, Lee, Katie and Alicia. We had a fun evening together."

"Wow! How did your families like that?"

"Not very much," Angelina laughs, "but it was what WE wanted and we had the feeling that what WE wanted was a bit more important than what the family and conventions wanted. Molly has Bill and Fleur's wedding next month, that's got to be enough."

A very strong young woman is Angelina. That's not the first time I'm thinking that, but I think, even if she's a full blooded witch, I'm quite sure that some idiots have put her down for having a black skin and being a Gryffindor. The Johnsons are very old wizarding blood indeed. Their recorded ancestry goes back three hundred years in Britain, but they have been magical for much longer. Angelina's youngest brother is a fifth year Gryffindor and her youngest sister Rebecca is a third year Ravenclaw. They both have the same dignity and strength as Angelina shows. Very likeable students.

After lunch it's time for the presents. The twins don't really know what to do with them yet, but they check pretty fast that they can tear the wrappings off and that something they would like comes out of it. They're being flooded with gifts. Of course both get one from Remus and I. We give them their gifts as their parents, so it's one for both of them from both of us together. Then there's their godparents. Harry and Ginny are treating Seraina with a plush dog that's half the size of Padfoot. Seraina squeals and hugs the dog immediately. Hermione and Ron give Denny something similar, but when Denny opens his gift he finds a plush wolf! Where did they find that, I wonder. Hermione notices my wondering look and explains:

"We had it custom made. Gave them a picture of Remus and told them that this was what we would like. Ginny and Harry did the same with Seraina's doggie."

"Wow!"

Then follow all the other housemates. Even Fred, George and Angelina have brought them something. Fleur can't stop praising them for their cuteness. She's all taken with both of the children and keeps saying that she hopes to get such lovely and fine children. Bill looks a bit green thinking of becoming a father. Hermione also looks a bit green, but she's really sick it seems, as she has to leave the table and when she comes back she's still very pale. I'll have to watch over that young woman! 

"Bill, you'll get married before you get to be a father!" Hermione teases.

"Yes, looks like I'll be there before you, Bill," Harry adds.

Remus and I look up, slightly astonished.

"What? Is there something we should know about?"

"Err... maybe... problem is, we don't know ourselves yet..." Harry says.

"How come? If I'm not all too wrong I've just seen Hermione go out and she did look rather sick," I remark with a smirk.

"Once we know you'll be the first ones to hear about it, Siri..." Harry promises. 

Hermione can't promise anything, for she's looking bad again. 

"I thought it's called morning sickness?" she manages and runs to the nearest toilet.

This time Harry follows her to help her. They are back about twenty minutes later and both beam.

"Well, that was the final straw, we just did the test spell and it says I'm pregnant!!!" Hermione informs us.

Wow! All around us we're going to see babies born in the next years! This is going to be fun, first to see them grow up and second to probably teach them in a couple of years. We have to wait for a while longer to have them in our classes of course, but once they're at Hogwarts they're still going to be around us. I can see that Remus is equally pleased to hear this.

"Congratulations!" 

Everyone congratulates them of course. This is very good news. 

The day is over all too soon. When Remus and I take the children up to bed and kiss them goodnight I'm thinking of the importance this day holds for us. Our own children are one year old. They've both changed our lives by 180 degrees, everything we once knew has been turned upside down and our lives now circle around them. We don't regret that one bit! I couldn't imagine a life without Seraina or Denny anymore. They've developed a lot of their character by now. It's fun to be with them, even though it still takes a lot of our time and will keep doing so for a long while still. But Merlin, I know I'm going to miss it once I'm freed from this for a good part of the day or almost completely when they will change to their dormitories at Hogwarts. Actually I'm glad that now I won't get to teach them myself until they start their fifth year. 

**Wednesday, 19.5.1999 / Morag**

I've been a good girl all morning, but after lunch I'm getting a bit tired of working. Since I have all day and all week for my work I'm getting on much faster than most of the other students and I've been able to receive new material a bit faster than others. By the speed with which I'm sending the material back and by knowing I have the whole week to do it the school has agreed to send new batches in intervals of three weeks instead of the four weeks for the others. It suits me, because I know that I'll be through it a lot faster. I'll be able to take the final exams a full year earlier.

When Nicole calls me I ask her:

"Are you studying this afternoon?"

"No, not much. Why?"

"Could you come over? I'm longing for you!"

"Well, if you come and magic me over that's no problem. By train it takes a bit long..."

"I'll be right there!"

Putting down the phone I apparate right next to her and then apparate her back to the Sunnegg. She laughs, because it's been less than a minute since I've put the receiver down. We take the time for a quick, but intensive snog. 

"Hello, love!" she says.

"Hi. Want to go for a walk?"

She looks outside and shakes her head.

"Still too nasty out there."

"Yeah, I'm so longing for some sun. Look at the garden, we've had to neglect it almost completely. And everything is so wet in there. Only some tulips and daffodils out. They're the only ones tough enough to withstand this weather."

We sit down in the small living room, where it's cosy warm and cuddle. She's not spent much time in this part of the house yet. 

"What's that room over there?" she asks.

"The study. Remus' and Sirius'."

"Oh. Forbidden territory for you then, eh?"

"No, not at all, they know we're not nosing into their desks, but the books are all available. We're even allowed to make free use of the restricted section of the Hogwarts library now."

"The restricted section? What does that contain?"

"Everything not deemed suitable for the younger students. You get to use books from there on a fairly regular basis in sixth and seventh year... - Accio restricted section," I call, pointing my wand to the room.

The three boxes containing that part of the library come flying out of the study. Nicole stares at them.

"How can you make use of those boxes? These books are so tiny... you'd have to use a microscope to read them."

"We have to use retrieval and enlargement spells. The books are all reduced to minimal size. Give me a subject and I'll get something out..." I say and laugh.

"What kind would I find in there?"

"Oh, basically everything we call Dark Magic, Muggles would probably unknowingly talk of Black Magic, though the two are not identical, but meaning similar things. Wizards don't tolerate every sort of magical practices, you see and many are considered dark, most of those are illegal. So we read about that stuff but don't do it. For the most part."

"That about Voldemort and the Death Eaters?" she inquires.

"Among others. Of course there's lots of Dark Magic practitioners who are nowhere near as bad as the Death Eaters. Those are really just the worst ones, because they aimed their Dark Magic at other to gain dominance. There's some who practice 'Old Magic' as they call it on a fairly regular basis without harming anyone else. Some of those practices contain Necromancy or forms of Dream or Blood Magic. Legilimency is another one which is considered Dark Magic, though this one is in the grey zone between legal and illegal magic."

"I could listen to you for hours, you know that? Now, what's Necromancy? Must have something to do with dead people..."

"Spot on! Basically bringing dead people back to life."

"Gulp! - You mean, you can actually do that?"

I sigh.

"I think, it's really rather impossible. But there have been Necromancers throughout history."

I decide to call for some books about the subject and retrieve them with a spell. About fifty books are hovering in front on me on that keyword. Nicole grins.

"I'd like to search the library like that! It would be considerably easier to find lots of sources!"

I grin and nod.

"It's been a very good day when Remus taught us this charm. Well, let's start with anyone of them. Engorgio!"

I tap the top book on the pile with my wand and it enlarges itself to an enormous volume. It's one of those old, old books, that have had dust inlaid of them for centuries.

"Doesn't look like this one has been used in a long time. It's fun actually, because Professor Dumbledore made a COPY of the library, but seemingly he also copied everything inside the books. Let's hope this one doesn't screech or anything when I open it... though I know how to stop that if it does."

"Eww... that sounds scary."

"It's meant to be scary, so that students will be held off perusing the restricted section in the night. Not that it always does the trick, but then there's some books that have to be treated in a special way or they try to bite your hand off..."

"Aw. Better be careful then!"

I laugh.

"Nah, if this one was a biting book then I'd have been bitten already. Worst now is a screech or some nasty fluid it could spit..."

None of either happens, so I open the book and scan the contents. Only a part of the book treats Necromancy, other parts are about certain Blood Magic practices. But there are seven different techniques for Necromancy described, and none of them sounds nice! Nicole shivers when I read some of the more gory passages.

"Yowl! That was a nasty one..."

"Absolutely. Want to have more fun? Then we put this gory stuff away and go up to the regular library and look through spell books. They're usually a lot of fun! See who finds the silliest spells..."

"Sounds right by me!"

I reduce the book again and return everything into the boxes, which I banish back to their spaces in the bookcase in the study. Then I take my wand and Nicole's hand and we walk through the house and up to the library. Retrieving some of the spell books we take them up to the common room and flop down on the sofas. 

"Okay, silly spells..." she says and starts looking through the first book on her pile. 

"Here's one," she says after a few minutes and reads: "Sitaro - spell to change anything to a self tuning and playing Indian Sitar."

We giggle and she asks:

"Can you demonstrate that?"

"I can try. Is there anything in terms of wand movements or images you need behind the incantation?"

"Nope, just this one sentence."

"Good..."

I point my wand at one of the sofa pillows and say.

"Sitaro!"

Within a second the room is filled with the sound of Indian Raga music. A while later two ghosts turn up and immediately join the game. Lily and James grin and we tell them:

"We're looking for the silliest spells around..."

"Oh, now there's my hobby," says James and grins.

"He's probably capable of more silliness than twenty other wizards taken together," Lily confirms.

"His only concurrence would probably be Sirius then..." I remark.

"Just HOW did you figure that out, Morag?" he asks. 

By dinnertime we're all exhausted from laughing so much. I think Lily had the prize when she found a spell to make your knickers sing. This was probably one of the funniest days I've ever spent in my life and James rounded it up by saying:

"Padfoot will be SO miffed to have missed this!"


	11. Wedding and extended weekend at Paris

**Friday, 21.5.1999 / Bill**

I wake up next to Fleur in our nice flat in the Paris wizarding area. This is the last day before we'll be officially joined together. Of course we've joined a while ago, going the proper way is more to please the family and everyone, but we'll make it simple and have a lot of fun afterwards. Dad has offered to take over as master of ceremonies. We've accepted both gladly, because we know he'll do it well. 

The last few days have been crazed hectic. Mum and Dad have arrived here three days ago, they're staying at the Delacours' house, which is where the wedding will take place. The house is big and airy and is located in the area outside of Arles in the south of France, where it will be nice and warm. For those who will stay in Paris for the weekend we have official Portkeys to take them back, should they not be in a condition to apparate anymore. That will certainly exclude our future Mums, Hermione and Angelina. I've heard a lot about Hermione's pregnancy through Ginny who's been here for a couple of weekends to help prepare things. The weather forecast for tomorrow is good, let's hope it stays that way, because we'll be celebrating outside.

I'm looking down on my soon to be wife who's still asleep next to me. She's been amazing since we've been together. Warm and happy and I do believe it must have been hard for her because everyone only saw her beauty. And then, as soon as they know she's part Veela they all back away in horror. I know I was close to doing that, but I wanted the friendship at least. I'm glad I didn't withdraw all the way, because once we were real friends it was easy to see the real Fleur. The one who's kind and generous and warm. Who's sparkling and charming. Yes, there is that Veela charm, but if it's not meant to catch someone in her nets, it's just immensely turning on. Once one's beyond that Veela thing one's being rewarded with a wonderful person. She lets that person out a lot since we've decided to get married. 

I quite like my future parents-in-law. They are friendly people. The Veela part comes from her father's side, where one grandmother had been one. The family is quite large. Next to her parents Fleur has two sisters and a brother. She's the oldest of the bunch, twenty-two years old now. Then there's her brother Yann, who's twenty, her sister Marcelline, who's seventeen and in her last year at Beauxbatons, and finally Gabrielle who's thirteen and in her third year at Beauxbatons. Besides that she has about a dozen aunts and uncles on both the paternal and maternal side of her family with a fair amount of cousins. She's not close to them all and thankfully hasn't seen any need to invite them all. For the wedding there will be the immediate families, some of her friends from the French Ministry, mostly friends I've befriended too, since I've come here, my Hogwarts friends who she knows as well and some of our friends we don't know well or at all yet. All in all about a hundred guests. The large garden of 'La Belle Solitude' will hold them all easily. It's a lovely three story building of the local style, built in the seventeenth century and enlarged a little with a wing or two here and there in the following centuries. Most of it is baroque. That means bright colours everywhere, large rooms with high ceilings and huge floor to ceiling window frames parted in many small window panes. 

Once Fleur is up, too, we get dressed quickly and pack our overnight bags to apparate to her parents' house. Our wedding robes are already there, certainly pressed to perfection by the house-elves. I always enjoy the place for its quiet peace away from the bustling city. Paris is wonderful of course and offers many quiet little places, but mostly it's noisy, busy and pretty dirty, too. Freezing cold in winter and burning hot in summer, but I take burning hot over freezing cold anytime. Having lived in Egypt for so many years it's still hard for me to adjust back to the cold.

**Vendredi, 21.5.1999 / Fleur**

Je me demande comme cela va se développer maintenant. Nous étions ensemble pour quelques mois et nous avons vraiment passé la phase de la méfiance, que j'ai senti si fort de Bill. Il a toujours eu peur de mon part Veela, c'était tout clair pour moi. J'étais si heureuse quand il voulait quand-même être des amis ! Je savais tout de suite que lui, c'était l'homme pour moi. Dès que je l'ai vu la première fois, dans cette petite salle à Hogwarts, je savais, que c'était lui. Peu après j'ai déjà senti sa méfiance. C'était dur à le laisser partir après ça. Mais j'ai entendu qu'il n'avait jamais une amante depuis qu'on se rencontrait ! Cette découverte était immense ! Il a du sentir quelque chose alors.

Maintenant - plus de tout cela. Nous sommes heureux ensemble. Il aime bien aussi ma famille. Ma famille l'adore ! Il est habitué à une grande famille, aillant cinq frères et une sœur. Que j'adore déjà d'ailleurs ! Ginny est une jeune femme extraordinaire. Je me demande comment mon père va réagir en la connaissant, parce qu'elle me rappelle beaucoup à mon père. Son humour, sa brillance, son intelligence est de la même façon que la sienne. 

Enfin - nous nous en allons pour apparaître à La Belle Solitude. En regardant Bill d'un coté je me demande si nous allons avoir des enfants, et comment ces enfants vont devenir. Moi, blonde, yeux bleu-gris, lui, cheveux rousses, yeux bleu-gris... de nouveau des enfants roux ou des enfants blondes ? On verra. 

Il me sourit. Qu'est-ce qu'il est beau quand il sourit ! Il a appris le français presque parfaitement entre-temps. C'est à moi d'apprendre mieux l'anglais. C'est assez dur ! Je pense que mon vocabulaire est assez bon, mais ma prononciation !

I wonder how things are going to turn out! We've been together for a good amount of months by now and we've got past the phase of distrust that I have so clearly felt from Bill. He was always afraid of the part in me that's Veela, that's been clear to me from the beginning. I was so happy when he still wanted to be friends with me. I always knew he was the one for me, right from the moment I first set eyes on him in that little room at Hogwarts I knew it was him. Only a short time later I felt his distrust. It was so hard to let him go after that. But I've heard he never had a lover since we had met and this discovery was an immense one for me. I knew he must have felt something right then.

Now - nothing left of all of that. We're just happy together. He also likes my family. My family adores him! Of course he's used to a large family, seeing as he has five brothers and a little sister. Who I adore already by the way. Ginny is an extraordinary young woman and I wonder how my father is going to react to her once he knows her. She often reminds me of him, because their humour, their brilliance, their intellect is much the same.

Finally. We're apparating to La Belle Solitude. Looking at Bill from the side I wonder if we will have children. And what the children will look like. I'm blond with blue-grey eyes, he's red with blue-grey eyes, will they turn out more blond or more redhead? We'll see.

He's smiling at me. How beautiful he is when he smiles like that. He's learnt French almost to perfection by now and now it's up to me to improve my English. But that's hard. I think my vocabulary is good, but the pronunciation! 

**Friday, 21.5.1999 / Harry**

Something - rather someone - wakes me up... when I open my eyes I can see the sun peeking through the curtains on the large window of our hotel. We've all got rooms at the Hôtel du Louvre in Paris, a wonderful hotel right next to the Louvre and the Seine on the Rue de Rivoli. We've been to book the rooms two months ago and booked one for Hermione and I, Ron and Justin, Draco and Parvati, Blaise and Padma and also for Sirius and Remus and the children. Hermione and I pay a large part for Ron and Justin, an early gift for their three year anniversary. We needed an excuse or they wouldn't have accepted it. 

Draco invited the twins and Blaise. 

Ginny and Ernie are staying at La Belle Solitude, invited there by Fleur who seems very taken with her sister-in-law. 

Sirius and Remus have two small beds for the children added to their room. They've been able to take off Friday and Monday as well, so we do have a mini vacation and get some time to look at the lovely city as well as attend that fabulous wedding at the French country house of Fleur's parents.

Morag and Nicole stay at another hotel in the Montmartre area, together with Mandy and Jason and Neville and Hester. 

Hermione wakes up, looks at me and before we even have time she gets up and makes a beeline for the bathroom. I follow her to make sure she's alright, hold back her hair and softly stroke her back. Her morning sickness is getting better, but she still encounters it at least every second or third day. But she's fine otherwise, more active than I know her and she says the baby is perfectly well, too. I can't wait until I can see her belly grow more prominently. Right now she has filled out a little from top to bottom and her face is a bit softer I think, but otherwise there's not much to see. Oh yes, her eyes! They are shining with a new kind of a brilliance. The baby will be born in the first third of December. That day seems so far away, but I know when it arrives it will look like time just flew by.

When she's feeling okay again we return to the cosy bed covered in finest linens. The room is wonderful. Spacious enough, but not too big, and exactly the kind of plush and luxury we've been looking for. Of course we do like it that we only have to walk for about ten minutes to reach most areas of the 1er arrondissement. It's only seven o'clock in the morning now, so we have about an hour or so before we get up to meet the others for breakfast. We'll be waiting for the others to come from Montmartre to our hotel to decide what we want to visit. We have today, Sunday and Monday. 

Since she's got it out of her system Hermione gets cuddly and we enjoy our regular morning ritual of making love before getting up, taking a shower and getting dressed. We both dry our hair with a spell, I braid hers into a lovely plait and then we take our bags and meet the others for breakfast. Sirius and Remus are already in the restaurant, the twins in two neat high chairs playing around with their toasts. If something goes on the toast both, Sirius and Remus see to it that they cut it into tiny bits and push it right into their little mouths so it doesn't get spread over everything. They look lovely today, both in cute baby jeans and colourful t-shirts. It's already nice and warm being end of May, so we all wear sandals. 

We're all looking our best. Hermione is wearing a lovely short summer dress with short sleeves. She has a small black leather rucksack type of a bag out of which she pulls a well sized travel guide for Paris almost as soon as we're sitting. The book is spelled to weigh near to nothing and the bad is most certainly spelled much larger than it looks. We decide on what to suggest to the others (should they have no suggestions of their own) as to how we spend today. Hermione thinks it would be nice to start in the Tuileries, since the children were still awake and alert to run around for a bit. Sirius and Remus have strollers and their backpacks so we can reduce the strollers to pocket size and be able to use the Métro with the little ones. 

"If I were alone I'd like to go and see Père Lachaise. That's a cemetery, but a very old one in a very special park. Loads of famous people are buried there, from Edith Piaf to Oscar Wilde..." Remus remarks.

"Sounds intriguing!" Hermione says.

"But not ideal with the little ones. They want a bit of fun, I think," Sirius says. 

"That's why I started off with the Tuileries. Then we could walk along the Seine to Ile de la Cité. There's Notre Dame cathedral, the Sainte Chapelle, the little market, place Dauphine and the statue of Henri IV. That's all around the corner from here. Then there's the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville and the area around," Hermione suggests, running her finger over a part in her book.

"Sounds good to me. It's the center of Paris anyway. But either on Sunday or on Monday we'll see the Marais quarter! That's really worth the walk!" Remus says.

"Sounds all fine with me, we've never been here before after all. Well, 'Mione and I did walk around a bit when we came to look for the rooms. There's a square here just around the corner, which is very lovely, too... what's that again, Hermione?"

"Place Vendôme. Beautifully made octagonal square."

We're enjoying a lovely breakfast and wait for the others to turn up. Finally, at something past nine they show up and look around.

"Wow! Impressive place!" Mandy remarks.

"We've spoiled ourselves!" I grin. "How's your hotel?"

"Oh, it's very charming! It's just behind the Sacré Coeur church, a bit noisy but okay. Bit difficult to find an apparition spot, but we've made one out already. Best is the Métro stations," Jason comments.

"Great."

We spend the day almost the way Hermione suggested, but there are a couple of churches we go and visit and we ride around with the Métro a bit, much to Ron's amusement. Ginny and Ernie have joined us at lunch. 

**Ron**

Merlin it's an incredible feeling to wake up in this luxury place. No way Justin or I could have afforded it of course, but Hermione and Harry have been adamant they invite us and only accept about a third of the costs. Justin pounces me the second I wake up. The bed we have is huge! At least a bit wider than a king-size bed. We've slept wonderfully, since the windows are soundproof. They need to be, because outside and right underneath our room is the Rue de Rivoli, one of the most active roads in Paris. And we look on the opposite side of the road and see the massive Louvre palace. 

Someone's horny before getting up! I pull him down for a long, deep kiss and Justin starts caressing me all over. I stroke over his back.

"Good morning, love!" I mumble.

"And isn't it a wonderful morning? Look, the sun is out! This is going to be a great weekend, Ron! I was grateful, that Moody let us go for the two days extra!"

"Well, we do have the right for four weeks of vacation every year. So that wasn't asked too much."

"You're right of course. But anyway. And this amazing hotel..."

"This is great, isn't it? I hardly know how to behave among all those black suited people!"

It's true that this does make me a bit insecure. But I push this away when I turn to my lover. We have some time left before we have to get up. 

Spending the day in the streets of Paris is great. We enjoy a lot of laughs and some 'Ahs' over the beauty of it all. Of course, Draco has been here a load of times in the last months, whenever he's had business in the French Ministry or so. What amazes me is that he knows his way around by apparition as well as with the Muggle transport. 

In the evening we find a restaurant and share a nice dinner of French cuisine then we get recommendations to go out and dance. Remus and Sirius stay back though, they have the children and prefer to have some time for themselves. 

Tomorrow is Bill's big day and finally Mum gets one of her sons married off. I hope, she's happy.

**Saturday, 22.5.1999 / Sirius**

"Daddy! - Papa!"

Those two are getting clear in their calls for us lately. At thirteen months they don't really talk, but Daddy and Papa they've definitely figured out. The other names are more difficult. Lily they can say. Dobby works, too. Harry is still something like Ha'y. Hermione's is the most difficult one to say, she accepts a Monie for the moment. Ginny and Ron also sound quite rudimentary.

But they know the people in the family well!

At two in the afternoon Ginny turns up with the Portkey for us. The others will apparate to the house, but we need the Portkey for the transportation of the paraphernalia for our twins. We find ourselves at a very lovely country home only moments later. Right after we arrive we're sitting down on benches outside in a nicely decorated garden. Everything is ready, only the bride, the groom and the master of ceremonies are coming in once the wedding starts. It's a very lovely ceremony, which is celebrated by Arthur for the most part, but one of Fleur's French relatives translates everything on the spot for the French speaking part of the guests. Remus and I hold the twins on our laps, because they've already finished their naps. Both are dressed in their lovely robes from their birthday, and both are a bit restless. But they're not the only small children around, so we don't shush them too much. We've taken our seats right in the back, so we can get up and go away if they get too loud. 

There's a great dinner and then a great evening of lots of dancing. We enjoy ourselves very much. Both, Remus and myself have held back with the alcohol, we drink only a few glasses of wine, which is great. We can see that the Weasley-twins, Draco and their ladies sit with Fleur's brother Yann. Later we learn that Yann is now working for them at Dragon's Tales / Les Contes du Dragon. Since they're building it up in France this thing is now named in French and English.

We keep a balance between looking after our children and leaving them with other people so we can dance. Like other small children ours get a nice place to sleep inside, protected through silencing charms, so they won't be disturbed by the music and the party outside. We're checking up on them twice, but they're sleeping easily. There's been a lot of relaxation on the teething front lately and even though they must slowly but surely feel the molars coming up they don't complain and usually sleep through it all. 

Remus and I enjoy the dancing a lot. No one has a demand on us or not many people, so we have each other and we certainly don't spend any slow dances with anyone else. Bill and Fleur look wonderful. Both are dressed in silver coloured dress robes, Bill's are a shade darker than Fleur's, but they're almost identical. I've only met Fleur once before, but I have to say she's a really beautiful young woman. If her personality matches her looks then she's one hell of a woman. Harry says she's getting a lot nicer once one gets to know her. Her siblings and parents are certainly wonderful people and I've had a very humorous discussion with her father. Looking at the man it's easy to see where her grace comes from. He's eye candy, even Remus says so. But all in all we only have eyes for each other. He's wearing dark brown dress robes with gold embroidery and I'm wearing midnight blue robes with gold stars embroidered over the collar, parts of the sleeves and the front. 

We're ready to return to Paris by midnight. Remus and I have to use the Portkey with the twins and the strollers. We get back to the hotel soon after our return and put the twins into their beds. Within minutes they're back to their deep sleep and Remus moves over to the bathroom where I join him only moments later. Just a few minutes later we're ready to go to bed, cover the children's bed with a one way silencing charm, so that we hear them, but they can't hear us. I crawl into the bed next to Remus. He pulls me into his arms right away. This giant of a bed will be real fun to play on. We've already had a bit of it the two nights before and don't mind to have a third and then a fourth night in it. 

I pull him into a kiss. We both close our eyes and just feel. It's dark, but some of the light from the many street lamps finds its way into the room, just enough for me as I really don't like it all dark. A remnant from Azkaban that one! I've just had too much darkness there. But closing my eyes to just feel Remus is great. He starts nibbling on my earlobes. I can feel the nibbling right down to my cock. Back to another kiss. So he wants to be the dominant one tonight. Fine by me, I love to be the recipient of his ministrations. The nibbling continues, then I feel him transforming into his wolf form and licking his way down to my cock. I hold it up a bit and pull the foreskin back, so he can reach the most sensitive spots underneath. Feeling his rough tongue there almost makes me come too early. I can hold in and just concentrate on his licking. This tongue is giving me more intensive feelings than his mouth! He can suck me with his wolf snout, but not so well, because he can't really close his mouth around my cock, so he just continues licking. And has me climaxing within five minutes! I lean back and wait for Remus to come back, which he does after a few more minutes of licking my opening wet, so that he can penetrate right away. 

Pulling my legs up I present him with a better angle, but he still pulls down a pillow and shoves it underneath me. I fold my legs around his neck and pull him down, he starts thrusting and I'm going out of my mind as soon as he hits my prostate. I hope it never ends. He seems to drill his cock deeper and deeper inside of me with every new thrust, but I'm pressing against him, giving him all the space inside he wants. I'm clenching my muscles to accelerate the building of our orgasm, to feel more and more of him. 

Remus stops thrusting to come close and kiss me. Ooh, he knows exactly when to slow down to prolong the session! I'm only frustrated for a short moment, but now I simply relish the feeling of this hard muscle inside of me, Remus' weight on top of me and his sweet lips assaulting mine. He grips my cock in one of his hands and rubs it a bit. I yelp when I feel his teeth biting my shoulder. Slowly he starts to move again, building up the tension back to what it was before. And again, just before the point of no return is reached, he interrupts. 

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"I'm fine..."

"Just because of your position..." he mumbles and kisses me again.

I don't really care for that position, go on fucking me, for Merlin's sake! I haven't spoken it out loud, but he seems to hear as he continues to push and this time, this time he lets us both come. I cry out his name as I can feel that last moment before complete and utter bliss overtakes me. 

"Siri..." he moans.

Heat fills my body. I'm closing my eyes and suck it inside deeply. Gods, it feels so good. I wait until he stops thrusting and free my legs, let them drop and feel him collapsing over me. He buries his face in the hollow of my neck and mumbles sweet nothings, caressing me all the while and I let him until he falls asleep. 

Gently I lift him next to me, so that I can pull up the duvet and cover us. I pull the pillow away from under my back. The room is air-conditioned so I'm shivering and Remus quickly cools down as well. I gather him in my arms, pull up the duvet and soon...

**Sunday, 23.5.1999 / Sirius**

...we're both waking up when we hear our children babbling in their cots. I lift my head and look around. Both of them have pulled themselves up on the wooden bars and within a minute we hear them both calling for Daddy and Papa. Remus opens his eyes and I can feel him smile into my neck. 

"Wonder how long it takes until their cries of Daddy and Papa start to get on our nerves," he says with a grin.

I turn back to him and kiss him.

"Good morning to you, too, love."

He returns the kiss with a soft:

"Good morning, sweetheart. Do we allow them out of their beds?"

I nod and get up, removing the silencing charm as I approach the children's beds. 

"Good morning, my little Marauders. I suppose you want out of your beds, eh?"

Both children just stretch out their arms. I free Seraina from her sleeping bag and put her on the floor, where she quickly starts crawling over to the big bed. Denny follows her as soon as he feels the floor. Seraina pulls herself up on the edge of the bed. She just about reaches to see Remus and squeals for him to pick her up. Remus rolls over, kisses her on her forehead and teases:

"Hello, my little one. Do I pick you up? What say you?"

Another annoyed squeal from his daughter makes Remus comply and he pulls her up on the bed, while I lift Denny. We take both of them in the middle of the huge bed. They're both only wearing their nappies and a warm top, because their sleeping bags provide them with extra warmth. We're covering them with the duvet, but neither of them gives us much rest anymore. Remus crinkles his nose.

"You're a bit smelly, both of you, let's get you into the bath!"

He gets up and moves over to the bathroom, where he lets some water run into the tub and adds a bit of bubble bath for the children. Then he quickly relieves himself and while we hear the toilet flush he comes to get one of the twins. I get up and pick up Denny. I also grab the bag with their bath toys. 

First we take off their nappies and clean them, then we set them both into the five or so centimetres of water in the tub. Denny slaps his little hands on the water and splashes it. Sits and laughs at his sister who makes a face, because she got some of the water in her mouth. She spits it out disgustedly. Of course I've summoned the camera to take pictures. 

We're taking pictures constantly. We must have taken hundreds of photos of them already. Remus always has quite a few of them on all of his desks and there are of course a couple of them on the different mantels of our different fireplaces. Some people think we're obsessively taking pictures of the children, but we feel the need of having something to remind us of how they were, when they were still so small. They're growing up so fast!

For about ten minutes the children happily splash around in the water, then we start to actually wash them. They grace us with their usual screaming fit because we dare washing their hair, but once that's over we allow them another while in the water. Remus watches them while I quickly take a shower and then get dressed, then I watch them while Remus does the same. 

"Well, that's it, ladies and gentlemen, out you come and then we get you dressed!" I say and pick up Seraina. I've prepared a towel and warmed it quickly with a spell, so that she just shivers while she's coming out of the bath. I set her down on the thick carpet in the bathroom and dry her off. Remus does the same with Denny and then we take them back to the room where they get dressed. I pick a bright orange dress for Seraina. The weather is supposed to be warm today and sunny, so a summer dress will do. She gets sandals on her feet, a little hat on her head and that's it. Dressing her up is so much easier now that it gets warm. 

Remus puts Denny into a pair of shorts and a thin t-shirt. We grab their carriers and stuff some sunscreen inside of one of the pockets on them and check that we have enough tissues, a water bottle for both of them and their pacifiers. Then we take both children on our arm and go down to the restaurant to have breakfast with them. We're getting a nice table at one of the windows to the inner courtyard of the hotel. The children get hot chocolate, Remus gets tea, I get coffee and we're sharing some croissants with butter and jam. The kids get half a croissant to just munch on and occasionally Remus or I give them a bit with some butter and jam. We take our time and occupy the children as good as we can while we wait for the gang to turn up. They're up astonishingly early, but we've settled on a trip to Versailles in the case of good weather and we have to get there early to have a chance at getting through the palace without waiting for hours. Ginny and Ernie join us at the lobby of the hotel. They're bringing the food for the picnic we plan in the park of Versailles. We're on the train to Versailles at nine. The trip takes about half an hour. The twins crawl over everyone available and change from one lap to the next. Draco tickles Denny and he laughs so hard that Remus is sure we'll have to change him right when we get to Versailles. 

We spend a very happy day there. Being so early allowed us to go through the palace early and we dutifully admire the settings, the period furnishing and all the wonderful antiques. Remus and Hermione feed us with all the history about the palace. Then we go outside and start on the wonderful park. It's really beautiful. Unfortunately a fire has taken down a part of the forest that belongs to the park and Remus says some of the wonderful alleys are much too bare now, because the new trees are still so small. We don't really care, because we do find a wonderful clearing in the old forest with a lot of benches around a fountain. We find our spaces and Ernie and Ginny start setting up the picnic baskets, conveniently minimised to fit their rucksacks. There's a few bottles of lovely wine and some mineral water, lots of fresh baguettes, crude ham and salami of different sorts, hard boiled eggs, tiny pickled cucumbers, cornichons as Remus calls them. Then there are carrot and celery sticks and a few dips and several salads. We enjoy a superb meal courtesy of the Delacour house-elves and we take our time for it. At the end Remus and I change the twins' nappies and put them in the carriers again where they fall asleep pretty quickly. Their nap won't be as long as in their strollers or cots, but it will do. 

We get back to Paris early enough to change and find a restaurant to have a fashionable dinner. We take the strollers along for the children, because we don't need to use the Métro, we walk around to the Tuileries, cross them and take the first bridge over the Seine, which happens to be the Pont Neuf, cross and then walk along the banks of the river until we are just opposite the cathedral of Notre Dame. Remus leads the way to an old bar with a restaurant where we can get a long table in a basement room and we're served excellent French food to a reasonable price. Draco asks Remus why we're coming here:

"Remus, why this particular place? There are dozens of restaurants out there..."

"This, my dear Draco, is probably one of the oldest restaurants in the world, well, buildings that held bars, pubs, restaurants for roughly 950 years. It was already a pub when the cathedral of Notre Dame was constructed and it's called Les Trois Mallets to remind of the workers at the construction site of the cathedral who came to eat and drink here."

I whistle. Special place then. Well, the food is good, tasty, nothing overly exclusive, but very well cooked. The kids eat with gusto whatever we put on their plates. They fall asleep in their strollers right after the dinner though and though the pub holds a piano bar we don't linger, the two of us return to the hotel, so the little ones get some proper sleep. The younger part of the group decides to stroll around the Quartier Latin for a while longer and maybe go dancing or something. 

**Monday, 24.5.1999 / Hermione**

I wake up early because my stomach is upside down - again! I can settle it before I have to vomit though. Good. I've got the trick from Madam Pomfrey. Wonder how she knows such stuff, she's taking care of children and teenagers and I don't think that very many pregnant women belong to her clientele. But I was thankful nevertheless. In two out of three cases I can do without the vomiting, and the queasy feeling passes by. Otherwise I'm just fine. Ten weeks, still another thirty to go. 

When I cuddle back down under the duvet, Harry wakes up. He lifts his head and asks:

"Okay again?"

"Yes, Harry, the spell worked today."

"Good..."

He pulls me over for a kiss. It's unbelievable what this pregnancy does to me! I must have already quite a lot more blood that's pumping through my veins, and I react to a simple kiss from Harry. I'm turned on and I want him, badly. So far he's not said no to that hunger of mine. It always makes me smile, because he's still very careful not to do anything he thinks might endanger our baby. I have to assure him that it's still so small that there's no danger. If the baby survived the first month it's quite safe. He's getting all mushy and starts to think of names already. We both decide that none of the names used in our family will be reused. 

That reminds me of how James and Lily have reacted to the news. They are both quite thrilled of course and both have vehemently told us not to give the child either of their names. Lily had a few tears in her eyes she was so moved. Then James of course had to joke about the fact that they're getting all mushy about their first grandchild when they were barely 22 years old themselves! He never forgets to mention that they will stay 22 forever. And that they would be the ones to be able to accompany all future Potter, Black and Lupin generations. Harry's asked them what they'll do if the three families should die out. James coolly replied that a good exorcism spell would probably be good enough.

I don't know. I really look forward to all the years we will certainly still enjoy with each other, all provided there wouldn't be another Dark Lord who'd feel obliged to murder us of course, but I don't think that immortality would be the thing I'd crave. 

I do crave breakfast though. This morning we have to clear the rooms and we can leave our baggage at the hotel until we collect it to reach our train tonight. We'll spend the day at the Marais quarter and at the Cluny museum when the twins take their nap and finally we'll take them to the Parc Monceau. Then we'll collect our baggage and take taxis to the Gare de Lyon where we get to the train to Bern. We have left the cars at the parking house there. 

The first bit of the day spent at the Marais is impressive. This is one of the quarters that had been built mostly in the days of the reign of Louis XIII and his son, Louis XIV. All the houses are well kept and while the quarter had almost been run down for a good while they have been renovated perfectly well. Two of the city homes of French noble families have been put together to house the museum of the history of Paris. It's been named after one of the houses, the Hôtel de Carnavalet. It belonged to Madame de Sévigné, famous lady of the court of Louis XIV and society know-it-all of the period, a lady who left more than a thousand letters containing much of today's knowledge about the court of the Sun King. It's a very lovely house and some of the rooms, like the ballroom hold period furnishing and show lots of the clothes they wore in these days. 

The second museum we visit brings us back to the Middle Ages. Paintings, Statues, Tapestries and lots of other exhibits are shown in the Musée de la Moyen Age, situated in the Quartier Latin and there in the Paris dependence of the Monastery of Cluny. This small cloister had been constructed on Roman thermal baths, which have also been excavated and are a part of the museum. Another part is a delightful little cloister garden. 

When the children wake up we take taxis first to the hotel to pick up our luggage, then to the Parc Monceau, where we can play with the children until it's time for another taxi ride to the railway station. We spread on our reserved seats. Remus and Sirius put the children down on a seat each and the little ones sleep as soon as the train is in motion. 

I'm reading and Harry cuddles up to me to sleep for most of the trip. Ron and Justin are sitting opposite of us and they, too are cuddling, but they take the time for a bit of snogging. The others have seats like in planes, two next to each other. 

**Tuesday, 25.5.1999 / Remus**

We have to get up very early. Sirius and I share the breakfast with the twins at seven thirty, to have time enough to apparate back to Hogsmeade. We take the children to our flat, where Winky waits for us already and then get dressed properly and pick up our teaching materials to go to class. 

The Gryffindor and Slytherin second years are all in front of the classroom when I arrive. I quickly check my watch, but they're just all early. 

"Good morning, everyone! I'm letting you in instantly."

I unlock the door and let them inside. I watch them taking their seats. They usually take the same seats in every class. These second years have shyly started to mingle a bit. I'm encouraging it by commending them if they do assignments together. The Gryffindors are certainly more receiving, but these Slytherins have already started Hogwarts after Voldemort's demise and none are out of 'sensitive' families. Most of the kids are attentive, have their homework done well and leave a good impression. They're a lot more uptight than the Gryffindors though. I don't get half as many laughs from them. We're starting on the theory of some Dark Creatures and I'm doing Pixies with them right now. Those aren't that difficult to handle, if one learns how.

The morning advances quickly and I'm heading to the Great Hall for lunch. Siri is going down to the flat where the house-elves send the food to our kitchen. 

The two periods with the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff seventh years in the afternoon are always quite tough. They are doing some research right now on necromancy. I've given them the lecture of the subject for three or four lessons and they're now looking up more in-depth material to write an essay. The fourth years I have after them have a test on the Unforgivable Curses. We've gone through the Imperius training again and this time many of the students were able to throw the curse off. I've cast it so many times in the meantime it's almost scary. But the result is really promising. Every one of those students will recognise what happens with them should they ever fall victim to this curse. It's really an awful thing and they now all know how it feels, even Sixtus has gained enough trust to let me put him under the curse. At first he wanted me to do this in the privacy of my office, but I told him that he could trust me ten times more in the middle of his classmates. I didn't want to do this with him all alone as I needed to have the witnesses. Only after a while did he understand that. He was not yet able to throw the curse off completely, but he showed signs. I'm thinking of moving Unforgivable Curses up to the fifth years from on next year to spare Kate from having to cast an Unforgivable. That means next year it won't be a subject at all. 

I'm walking through the class and watch them finishing their questionnaires.

"As usual, if you're finished you can put it down on my desk and leave the classroom," I tell them. 

Several of the Ravenclaws get up, a Hufflepuff or two follow them and they place their parchments on the desk.

"Bye!" they call back.

When the bell rings the last ones put their quills down and I collect the remaining parchments.

"Okay, have a nice evening!" 

"Bye, Professor Lupin!" they call and pick up their bags to leave the classroom. 

I pick up my briefcase and the pile of parchments, lock the door and go up to my office, where I put the parchments on my desk. It's been a fairly easy test with questions, so it will be corrected and graded quickly. Sirius is at the office, the twins are playing in front of the fireplace when I get in. I smile. How sweet of my lover! He knows about the grading I have to do, so he's brought Seraina and Denny up to the office, where they can be with us while we finish up our work. 

I bend down and kiss him. 

"Hello, my love!"

"Hi, darling! Do you have a lot to do?"

"No, it's not too much. I have the test from the fourth years and a short essay from my two third years classes this morning. You?"

"Just a test from the sixth years this morning. Third years got an essay to write for homework about shrinking solutions though."

I'm sitting down at my desk. After a while Denny comes crawling over to me and pulls himself up on my robes.

"Papa! Papa the'e..." 

Every day there are new words from them now. I put the quill down and pick him up to sit him on my lap. 

"Hello, my little one. Sorry, I can't play with you yet, I've still got some work to do."

I read over the questionnaire and mark the mistakes. This test is graded quite fast, there are only sixteen students in this class. Then I start on the essay, which is short and even though I have all of the students it's done before dinner. Denny wants to get down again after a while. I let him go and watch him crawling over to Siri, who's started to read up some text for one of his next lessons. 

**Friday, 11.6.1999 / Sirius**

It's exam time again. All the fifth and seventh years have another week to prepare, the first, second and third years are going through their exams this week. I'm having half a day for each of the two first and second year classes and a whole day for the third years. Next week it will be the turn of the fourth and sixth years. The tests are set up by ourselves and I've had to work them out if I didn't want to just copy from Snape. We've had the first years on Monday with a practical and a theoretical test. The second years came up on Tuesday, then the third years all of Wednesday. They've mostly worked very well as far as I could see. I'm now working through the whole load to grade. The mark consists of half the points for the potion they have brewed and half the points they will get for the theoretical questionnaire. The third years have half the points for the potion and then a quarter of the points for each an essay and a questionnaire. The same system is used for the fourth and sixth years. 

Remus is working on his own tests. His practical stuff can be marked immediately, but there's a questionnaire and an essay for all forms, through which he's wading now. Especially the first years are a lot of work, since there are so many. 

It's about five in the afternoon when there's a knock on the door and Albus pokes his head around it.

"I know you're quite busy, but do you have a few minutes left?" he asks.

"Sure, come in, Albus!" Remus says. 

Albus steps inside and behind him Snape comes in. 

"Severus is here to do some research in the library..."

"Come in! Tea?" Remus offers.

"Hello, Severus," I great him, get up and guide them to the other end of the room. The twins are here again and noisily play around this end of the room. 

"Hello, Remus, Sirius," Snape says quietly.

Remus and Albus quietly conjure up some tea and we all sit down. I watch Snape as he looks at the children with huge black eyes. He doesn't know about them, I suppose, so I introduce them:

"I suppose you haven't met our children yet, Severus. The young lady is Seraina Lupin and that's her brother Dennis Black. They share their birth mother."

"Merlin, did you have to go and make more pests like yourself?" he asks. 

I just smirk. We sit and as usual when we sit down it doesn't take long until the little ones want to climb on our laps. Seraina pulls herself up between Albus and I. He pulls her up on his lap and smiles at her.

"How are you today, young Miss Lupin?" he asks kindly.

She grins and babbles something. So far she's not been able to say Albus' name properly. The closest she's managed until now is something like 'Abu'. He doesn't mind, he's delighted that they like him. 

"They are really delightful children, Severus and so far quite well behaved, I assure you. With the new system we are starting next school year they won't see their fathers as teachers before their fifth year."

"For which I'm actually quite glad," Remus remarks.

"I've heard you're the new Deputy Headmaster, Remus?"

"Yes. Next week we'll start on moving that part of Minerva's office up here. Her office will become one of the new Potions Masters' office. The old transfiguration classroom will then become the new Potions classroom, probably the one for the first through fourth years. Sirius wants to keep his classroom as well as we want to keep our office together here. We have plenty of space in here."

"Congratulations. You're getting to be a few firsts here..."

"First student, first teacher and now even first Deputy Headmaster, bla bla bla... in two years we'll have another werewolf student as Mandy Brocklehurst tells me. She has a nine years old girl under her care who will certainly get a Hogwarts letter."

"Shouldn't really be a problem if the child takes the potion."

"That's what we think. She'll probably transform with me though. At least until everyone is completely comfortable around her. And then she'll start on the Animagus training as soon as possible to relieve her from the painful transformation. If she can manage the Animagus that is. It has helped me beyond anything! Together with the potion the full moon nights just mean the transformation will take place, but it doesn't have such an impact on me anymore. - I just hate it if some of those little ones there pull my whiskers!"

"You mean, you let them near you?" Snape stares in shock.

"Yes, we do. They already know that Moony has teeth which are very dangerous, but they love to cuddle with him. We always let them be with him for a while, well, not now in summer, because they'll be asleep by the time he needs to transform, but when the transformation takes place no later than half past seven," I say.

Since it's just after their nap, Denny and Seraina are rather active and don't stay in the same place for a long time. Denny moves to Severus and looks at him, then stretches his hands out, because if he does that so far everyone has kindly picked him up. Severus does offer him a hand and Denny pulls himself up. He can also walk by now and displays that proudly. 

"How old are they?"

"Just over a year. That's why there's not much talking yet, but they walk and you see that they've perfected their crawling already. It's real fun to see them grow up."

"And we get to enjoy them as well. Only now Sirius and Remus don't bring them to the Great Hall for the meals anymore, so we have to come visit here to see them these days."

"So you have them fed in your flat or what?" Snape asks.

"One of us eats with them there. We don't have them fed, Severus. We do as much as we can ourselves. Winky watches them when we're in class, but we want to have as much as possible of their waking time. On the other hand we don't want them in the main school before they actually start Hogwarts."

We move on to other subjects and Snape asks about Draco.

"He's doing fine, Severus. He's working together with the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan and they're building a wizarding fun park in the French Alps. They want to have it open by next early spring. And he and Parvati Patil are engaged. The wedding is to take place in September I think."

"What! He's actually getting married to that girl? I thought she'd be just a phase..."

"Seems like she isn't. He's really in love with her and she's reciprocating, Severus," I say.

"Well, she's as good as anyone."

We talk about the gang and he actually tells us a bit about the job he now has at the Ministry, then it gets time to go to dinner. We all go downstairs to the Entrance Hall, where Remus and I turn to go to our flat. 

**Thursday, 25.6.1999 / Remus**

The leaving feast tonight! Sirius and I are both happy that this stressful year is over. It's been hard to work that much and have that little time for our children. But now it will be considerably better. 

Minerva has moved all the filing cabinets to our office. There is the smaller one concentrating on affairs concerning the Gryffindors and there's the four large ones with all the students' files. There are all of the devices for the students' letters, especially the Book of Names, which records all the newly born children with magical talent. Sirius can't but quickly look up the twins, which are both there of course. 

I'll have a lot of administrative work to do in the first week. I have to prepare the letters for the first year students. Minerva helps me putting the list and the letters together. There's a specially enchanted quill to write the letters and we use a dictaquill for the supply list. Two days are consecrated to the visits of the Muggle-born students. This year we'll have 48 new students, six of them are Muggle-born. It's my job to go and visit them now. 

"Do you think you get it done, Remus? They usually ask for some magic to see and I'm usually using my Animagus for a first display."

"No, I think that I will be fine. Do you usually deliver the letters yourself?"

"Yes, but with an owl. Since we ask them to send their confirmation letter by owl they need to have one."

"Okay. And what about helping them to Diagon Alley?"

"It depends. If they are fine with their child going to Hogwarts I usually go with them for the shopping. Then the visits occupy me for about three or four days. If they want to think about it I leave them very precise directions and give them the hints for the shops, Gringotts and so on..."

I think, this is a fun part of my new job! The first visit is in the London area, so it's going to be quick in case they want to add the shopping trip to my visit. 

I watch the owl deliver the letter. It's a small house with a tiny front yard and probably not much bigger backyard. The owl flutters around a window on the back side of the house and a while later I ring the bell on the door. I have to wait for a moment, but then a woman who looks to be in her late thirties opens the door.

"Yes?" she says and sounds a bit irritated.

"Good morning, Mrs Snider. My name is Remus Lupin. I assume you have just encountered a very strange sight of an owl with a letter to your daughter Sarah?"

Her eyes widen and she asks:

"How do you know that? It's indeed what has happened! We thought it was quite a joke!"

"I'm afraid it's no joke, I'm the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts, the school we have invited your daughter to attend. I signed her letter. May I come inside and explain things more thoroughly?"

"How do I know that you're really who you claim you are?"

"Passport? Driver's license?" I offer.

"That would at least be something..."

I show her my passport. She nods, makes room and lets me enter. Then she shows me to a small living room. 

"Summer break has just started, so my three are all at home now, it's rather messy, I'm sorry!" she says.

"Don't worry, I know that's not to avoid with three small children. Is Sarah your oldest?"

"Yes, she is. She's just turned eleven in April."

"Was there ever something strange or funny about her? Did she ever do things that no one could explain?" I ask her.

She looks around surprised. Then she smiles and says:

"Yes, yes, now that you mention it I can remember a few such things. My husband thought that she must have telekinetic talents. She can lift small things without touching them!"

"That's one of the most frequent forms of early magic such children display. Your daughter will be able to do much more than that once she's finished with her training at Hogwarts. Do you still have the letter?"

She blushes and says:

"Yes, but I'm afraid I have just torn it up..."

I smile and tell her:

"If you give me the shreds, I'll see to it that it's repaired..."

She gets up and brings the bits to me, then she goes to the staircase and calls:

"Sarah! Come down here, but this instant!"

A few minutes later a slim girl with dark brown long hair comes running down the stairs and cries:

"What is it, Mum? I was just going to call Belinda to fix a date... - who are you?" 

The girl looks at me and at the shreds of the letter I hold in my hand.

"That's this funny letter that was just dropped by an OWL! What are you doing with it?" 

"Hello Sarah! My name is Remus Lupin, I'm the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts, I've sent this letter to you."

"It's true then? I'm really a WITCH?" she whispers.

"Yes, that's true."

I pull out my wand and say:

"I'll quickly repair this!" 

With a quick Reparo-spell the parchment looks like it's never been crumpled or torn. Mother and daughter stare at it in wonder. Sarah takes a deep breath and looks at her mother.

"Mum, will you let me go?"

"Well, I don't know, luv, maybe we should discuss this with Dad first?"

"Do we have to decide right now, sir?" Sarah asks me.

"No, you don't. We need a reply from you by the 31st July at the latest. You will need to send this by owl again. All you need to do is write my name and Hogwarts on the envelope and hold it out to the owl, it will take the letter. You will have owl visits every day until you give them a letter to carry back to Hogwarts."

Mrs Snider has looked over the school supplies and asks:

"These are rather exotic sounding things! Where do we buy them? Provided my husband agrees to let her come to that school..."

"I have a very detailed description written up and I can give you that. If you decide on the spot I can even take you there, because it's here in London. Only your daughter will see the entrance to the wizarding area though."

"Let me call my husband, he'll be back in a short time, if you have some time! I can't decide this right on the spot without him," she says.

"That's no problem, Mrs Snider, please go ahead."

While she calls her husband and just tells him that he's to come home immediately, Sarah sidles up to me and asks:

"Sir, can you show me more, please?"

"Yes, I can. Have you seen the book list you will need? There are quite a few subjects you will be taught and one of them is called Charms. That includes all spells you will learn. Though you won't learn all existing spells at school of course. I'll show you a few, okay?"

Sarah's seen a range of useful spells to tidy up her room by the time Mrs Snider has convinced her husband that his presence is indeed very necessary. The room looks perfectly cleaned up and even the windows are freshly cleaned and the curtains look like they've just come out of the washer. Mrs Snider stares in surprise again.

"He's done that just now, Mum! - And I'll be able to do this as well?"

"Once you're trained up, yes."

"What are the other things?"

"Your other subjects will be Potions, that's learning to brew magical potions for many uses, transfiguration, that's changing something into something else..."

"That sounds interesting."

"It is. It's also quite demanding and often a bit frustrating in the beginning until you get the hang of it. Then you'll learn Astronomy, that's why you need the telescope. Herbology, that's something like Biology, but you will be working with magical plants. Then you'll learn History of Magic and finally you'll learn Defence against the Dark Arts."

"What's that last one?"

"I'll be honest and tell you quite frankly that like in your non-magical world there are some less savoury people around who will misuse magic for dark purposes. There are some nasty forms of creatures around, too. In Defence against the Dark Arts we cover all those things, so you will learn how to defend yourself should it be necessary."

"Creatures?" Mrs Snider asks. "What kind of creatures you mean? Animals?"

"Yes and no. There are animals among them, but there are many creatures that are mixed forms. That includes vampires, werewolves, centaurs, even goblins. Though with all of them you can't say they're nasty without knowing them. For I myself am a werewolf. You'll of course learn about that, Sarah, and many other things."

"You're a werewolf? They really exist???"

"They do. Unfortunately I have felt it far more often than I liked to. Though in the meantime I have a kind of medication, a potion, that helps me to stay calm when I'm transformed. I can also turn myself into a wolf any time outside of the full moon now and that is a very harmless creature."

"Show me! Please, sir!" she says.

"I'll be a real wolf, so don't be afraid! I can still understand what you say, only I can't answer until I transform back."

I transform and both ladies gasp fairly loud, but Sarah looks at me with interest.

"Wow! I've never seen a real wolf, well yes, at the zoo, but so close! You really look like one..."

I growl a bit and then I bark and howl for a moment. Then I transform back. 

"That's bloody amazing!" the girl cries.

At that moment the door opens and Mr. Snider shows up. Mrs Snider quickly introduces me and shows him the letter. He reads over it and looks at me. 

"That's you who signed this? And you're serious about that? She's done telekinesis for ages, so that's really magic?" he asks excitedly.

He reminds me of Arthur.

"Yes, that's magic. We call that levitation and most magical children show this particular branch of magic as their first signs."

"But how does this come? I mean, she must have been born with it?"

"Yes, that's true. It's genetic. Every person alive has a certain amount of magical genes. Depending on the amount of them that are switched on in their body they show enough magic that they can actually do something like levitation. Though your daughter must have enough of those 'on' genes to actually be recognised as a magical child."

"And how do you know about that when you don't even know the child?" 

"I don't until I open our Book of Names. There's a specially enchanted quill which records the birth of every child born in Britain and Ireland with enough magical genes to visit Hogwarts once they're eleven years old."

"This is bloody fantastic!" he says and looks at his daughter. "You do want this, don't you, Sarah?"

"Yes, Dad!"

"So, do you still need a written confirmation?"

"Yes, I do actually. It will be stored in her file. But just a short note will do and you can give it to me right away," I say.

"I'll do that just now, Mr. Lupin."

"And then we'll go shopping?" Sarah asks hopefully.

I look down at her and promise:

"Yes, then we'll go shopping. You'll need quite a lot of things."

We're on our way by bus and Tube a short while later. All three children are with us. Mr. Snider gets some cash at the nearest ATM to be able to change it into the wizarding money. At Charing Cross Road we leave the Tube and I show them the way to the Leaky Cauldron. Neither Mrs nor Mr. Snider can see the pub at first, but Sarah discovers it right away. 

"There! Is that it, Mr. Lupin?"

"Yes, Sarah, that's it."

"It looks dingy!"

I grin.

"Just you wait until you're inside. Let's go."

I lead them all inside and only when we actually approach the door Mr. and Mrs Snider can see the entrance. We cross the pub and Tom of course greets me when I lead my group to the backyard. 

"Hello, Professor Lupin!"

"Hello, Tom!"

I quickly guide the group to the tiny backyard and pull my wand to open the passage.

"Look at this, Sarah, so you will know it the next time. You have to tap this brick three times with your wand..."

I do that and the five people stare with open mouths as the bricks move apart and open up to an archway into the Diagon Alley.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley! This is the wizarding district of London. No Muggles, that's non-magical people, can see it unless they're shown like you now. We first go to change your money to wizarding currency. Be prepared to carry around quite some weight, because we're still using coins only. Gold, silver and bronze ones."

On the way to the bank I explain the money. Mr. Snider asks me how much he'll need for his daughter's supplies and how much the schooling costs.

"You only pay for the supplies. The schooling is free and works like the state schools, but Hogwarts is a boarding school."

"Ah! And where is it?"

"In Scotland. It's an old castle."

"And it's a boys and girls' school, isn't it?" asks Mrs Snider.

"Yes, of course. Has been since it was founded roughly one thousand years ago. The founders were two witches and two wizards, by the way. Witches have been much more emancipated than Muggle women throughout history."

"What about the many witch hunts? Weren't many killed?"

I smile.

"Unfortunately the ones who were killed were almost all Muggles. Some witches and wizards had indeed the bad luck to be killed, but never the ones who were burned. We have simple charms to freeze flames and then disapparate. So the Muggles really only successfully killed innocent people."

"Ewww... now that's ugly!"

"Absolutely. Especially since it hit so many good people! This is a very sensitive topic in the wizarding society, despite the fact that not many of us were killed through these hunts. But believe me, we aren't immune to our share of petty prejudice!"

We reach the bank. While the Sniders wait in one line I quickly move to another after telling them that I would be gone for about fifteen minutes. In that time I'm down in my own vault to get some fresh supply of cash. I intend to have a look around Flourish & Blotts to get some reading material for the vacation we have planned. I meet the Sniders again when I come back from my vault. They are admiring the money they've got. 

"Well, we should start with the robes shop. You can wear most of your regular clothes at school, but over them we wear robes as you can see. If you think that's too much clothing let me warn you, Hogwarts is a very old castle and rather draughty in winter. While common rooms, dormitories and classrooms are always nicely heated the corridors are not, so you'll need warm clothes."

We stop at Madam Malkin's where Sarah is fitted with her school robes, a hat and a cloak. 

"If you want to get her some regular robes as well you have quite a good choice here as you can see."

"Maybe later. At the moment she only needs the ones for the school, doesn't she?" Mrs Snider asks.

"Yes, that's right."

"Besides, I can take the pattern and sew her some myself."

Once the robes are off the list we go through the rest of it. All that remains at the end is her wand and the books. She has all of her new equipment in a large trunk, which comes fitted with little rolls these days, so it's rather easier to pull. Mr. Snider does that and asks me:

"What about the wand? Is that something like the robes, needs to be replaced as she grows?"

"Oh no! I'm not telling you too much beforehand, you will see it. No, the wand can be something to be kept and used a life long. Some people have reason to change after a while, but mine for example is still the one my parents bought for me when I was eleven. And the witch or wizard must be there to buy the wand. It must match!"

"Ah! Sounds very mysterious!"

The mystery is solved fairly soon, as Sarah finds her wand quite quickly. She stares at her wand for a moment before she hands it back to Mr. Ollivander to pack it back in the box which he gives to her with a kind bow. 

"Well, all that's left now is Flourish & Blotts, that's the bookshop," I explain. 

After three hours we're all done and outside of the Leaky Cauldron I wish the Sniders a good day. They head home and I head to my next new student.

With this work the first week of my summer break is being filled. For the remaining preparation I have to get the book lists for the next school year first and then the letters for the returning students will be sent out about three weeks before the start of the new term.

Another good piece of work is the preparation of the new student's files and the archiving of the parting seventh years' files. Minerva guides me to the school's extensive archives. It's a fairly large room in the dungeons, but far away from the former Potions Dungeons and also far away from the Slytherin dungeons. It's kept dry magically and I ask:

"Dear me! How many years back are those files stored?"

"One hundred years, Remus! Don't ask me why, but that's what is the rule. Anyway, all the newly archived stuff comes on these shelves, but first we have to push out the old ones."

It's done with a spell - no surprise there. A moment later we have a box of the size of a trunk in front of us.

"It contains the folders for every student in that year. 1899," Minerva declares and we watch as all the other boxes move up one space, finally freeing the one space needed for the latest box. Containing the box of the class of 1999, 38 remaining students all in all. 

Minerva smiles and shows me the box before that. We quickly look at the files. There's Hermione's with all the extra credit work she did, all her honours and a few detentions and some point deductions. Minerva's smile gets wider.

"In all honesty, Remus, that girl didn't seem to belong to Gryffindor when she started. Then she got caught between Potter and Weasley and from then on... well, I have to say that if she'd never landed herself in any trouble at all I would have found her boring! She certainly gained, once she loosened up a bit."

"Minerva!" I say, mocking shock, "That's so unlike you! You're always the epitome of correctness and you're saying something like this!"

She actually snickers a bit and then she admits:

"Yes, yes, that's been my most important trademark, hasn't it? Well I'll be correct forever, but I do prefer people with a backbone. Hermione Granger had to grow hers, but grow it she did! It only endeared her to me more! I was a Gryffindor myself, after all."

"She's definitely a character," I agree. 

We replace the lid on the box and push the latest one into the free space. 

"What are we doing with the discarded box?" I ask.

"Would you believe that we're sending this to the Ministry? It's going into indefinite Ministry storage. They'll make it tiny though. It's to be sent to the Department of Education, to the attention of Elizabeth Montgomery, she's the head there."

"Very well. Do we make it small already to send it? Looks a bit heavy for an owl..."

"We take it there, Remus. In person. Fix a date with Eliza, she's pretty flexible and usually you can go right away."

"Ah. Okay, will do."

Back at my office I send a letter to Mrs Montgomery and send it off with one of the school owls. After moving around in the dungeons I really enjoy the bright light coming through the four large windows of our office. And I do enjoy my next bit of work, preparing all the files for the new first years. 48 folders have to be named. Once the children are sorted I'll sort them into their respective drawers. Right now they're just spread over the available space in alphabetical order. That's the last thing I need to do today. Now I just have to wait for Mrs Montgomery to accept the proposed date for me to take the archive box to her. 

I join Sirius and the twins, who are happily playing on the lawn of the inner courtyard. In a few days the four of us will take a Portkey out of Diagon Alley to reach our vacation spot in a wizarding hotel on Zanzibar. We'll stay there for three weeks, and I'm really looking forward to get some rest. We'll do nothing but lounge in the sun on the beach, play with our children, read a few books and maybe write some on ours, enjoy the fresh air and otherwise do absolutely nothing. 

At dinner I get the reply from Mrs Montgomery who is 'happy to receive me' tomorrow during the late morning. Good. That will all be done then.

**Friday, 26.6.1999 / Remus**

We can sleep in as long as the twins let us and Sirius gets up to get them out of their beds.

"Stay, Remus, you've been doing much more work in the last week, I'll take them!"

"Thanks, love!"

I'm quite glad to turn around and sleep an hour or so more. I finally get up at nine, eat something small in our kitchen and go up to my office to get my archive box and take it to the Ministry. I state my business at the apparition point and get my badge, my wand is checked in and I go to see Mrs Montgomery, who turns out to be quite a spirited lady of about 85 or so. She asks how Minerva is doing and tells me that they were classmates in their Hogwarts days. I hand over my box and tell her the latest gossip from the school.

"You sound like you're genuinely happy to be there, Professor Lupin!"

"Oh, I am! Though right now I'm really looking forward to have a few days of undisturbed vacation with my family."

"Baby twins and full time teaching must be rather exhausting. I was lucky enough to have a couple of years off during the time I had little ones."

"Yes, we could have done that, too, but we didn't want to let Albus down. It will still be much easier now that we get the additional teachers."

"I can imagine. Well, I won't hold you up, Professor, it's been very nice meeting you! It's rare that I'm meeting such polite young people these days."

"Thank you, Madam! Well, I must be going anyway, we'll have a lot to pack for our vacation."

With that I'm departing and find my way back to Hogwarts in no time. We pack up what the twins will need and prepare some of our own stuff, the Pensieves and the brooms. Then we take leave from Minerva, Filius and Edith, who are still at the castle. We then fly down to the gates and apparate the children back to the Sunnegg.

Saturday, 27.6.1999 / Sirius

After a frenzy of packing our stuff for the vacation, last minute shopping of sunscreen, beach toys and a few books to read we reduce our suitcases and the strollers to matchbox size and place it all in a bag, then we pick up the twins, already nicely covered in sunscreen and get ready to apparate to the Portkey-station on Diagon Alley. Harry and Hermione are going to be with us, which pleases us especially. Hermione is over her worst bouts of morning sickness and looks forward to the peace we expect on the island. We will stay on the eastern side of the island. It's a full wizarding dwelling and we can't wait to get there now. 

Harry and Hermione finally come down to the living room, Hermione chiding Harry for his tardiness, but he's only grinning, because we still have about an hour before we need to be at the station. We're apparating to the station and only half an hour later we arrive at our destination, a small place called Kiwengwa. We've been transported right to the reception area of the resort. We're then shown to our accommodation, which consists of two lovely cottages, one with an extra bed for the twins. Both cottages are next to each other, both have two floors. Ours has two large four posters, one downstairs, one upstairs, but instead of the regular curtains the beds are covered with mosquito nets. They are furnished traditionally all in beautiful warm colours and all the furniture is made from precious woods. The stone floors on the ground floor and the dark hardwood floor are covered with lovely Omani rugs. There's a tiny kitchenette and a fairly nice bathroom and the sitting area on the ground floor has two sofas and two armchairs. 

"Wow, this is beautiful!" Hermione gasps.

"Isn't it, though? But it's really warm here!"

"Well, we can drop most of our clothes, I suppose," Remus remarks. 

We spend the afternoon unpacking and getting used to the heat. Seraina and Denny are put to bed for their nap. We are happy that there are silencing charms, so we can give them the bed downstairs without any problem. We'll spend the evenings together at Harry and Hermione's cottage, so that the little ones will be left alone to sleep undisturbed. As usual we have a set of Extendable Ears through which we can hear if something should be amiss. 

We wait for the children to wake up again. Then we quickly give them a new coat of sunscreen and apply some of it on our skin as well. All of us are in swimsuits and we just add a t-shirt and shorts to our basket. Harry blows up a ball and two rings for the children and off we go to the beach, which is simply stunning. The sand is brilliantly white and the water a deep emerald, covered by a perfect dark blue sky. Where the sand beach borders the vegetation it's lined by coconut trees. The vegetation is tropical, as this place is just a few degrees south of the equator. We're all having a time to get used to those brilliant colours and the bright light. It's very warm, but there's a slight breeze from the ocean, so it's quite nice. We find the beach almost empty! There are a few guests of the resort, but not many. It's wonderful to put down some towels on the beach, leave our bag and take the children for their first touch of seawater. Remus picks up his daughter, I pick up my son and we both follow Harry and Hermione, who are already off in the shallow water with the wonderfully soft surf. The waves are not coming in high or forcefully like on all the Atlantic shores, they gently roll up the beach in soft rolls. Our children really like the water and we take them by the hand to guide their first steps. Denny squeals when he feels the water and pulls a disgusted face when he tastes it for the first time. I take him up to my chest and slowly walk out in the water. 

"We're going to sway in the waves for a bit, Denny! You'll love that and we'll take care that you don't get much water in your mouth, okay?" 

He nods and Remus comes to my side with Seraina on his arm. Both of us have to walk out for quite a bit until we can let go and let the water carry us. The kids get used to it and start to grin again. After a while we take them back to the shallow water, where we let them crawl in the sand and feel the water running up on them. Lots of squeals ensue of course. We're quite amused and it's another opportunity to take pictures of our little ones. 

Harry and Hermione have their own fun and swim for quite a while. And then they snog out in the water for quite a while. And finally they join us again to play a little with the twins and release Remus and I so we can go and swim a bit as well. We're both out in the water quickly and then we get to enjoy some snogging time. Being gently rocked on the ocean waves and kissing is a great feeling! 

We return to the hotel before it's time for dinner to get dressed. Robes, albeit very thin ones are the rule for the dinner to respect the mostly Islamic customs of the island, so we all get dressed in colourful silk robes. We find the restaurant of the hotel, which is really nice with a large area under huge tropical trees and in the middle of a lush garden. Of course it looks out to the sea. We're served a very nice grill with lots of salads and fruit. More fruit and sherbets are for dessert. 

Shortly after dinner it's bedtime for the twins. They're really tired and don't even last half a page out of a book. We can place them both in the big bed, which we charm so they won't fall out. We gently close the mosquito nets and watch out that it's really covering everything. Of course we've all received malaria prophylaxis, and we're still taking the potions here, but the nets have to be, or we would find too many bites. 

Remus has placed his potion on the kitchen counter. He's down on his last dose tomorrow morning, then tomorrow night he'll transform. I plan to take him out for a walk tomorrow night! To see that fat full moon on this beach, with very little artificial light disturbing us will certainly be quite nice. 

But right now we're leaving our cottage to spend some time with Harry and Hermione who welcome us with a cool drink on their veranda. We've all sprayed our body with mosquito repellent spray, so we won't be bitten too badly out here. The stuff seems to work, as I don't have to shoo any mosquitoes away. We enjoy a quiet evening.

"This is great here! Just as good as our honeymoon on Fiji," Hermione comments.

"Great! It's also great that you've come with us. We're very happy about that, because it will provide us with the occasional babysitter..." I say.

Harry grins.

"That was one of our reasons to come along. Besides our liking that kind of setting here..." he remarks.

"So Fiji was similar?"

"Very similar. More bougainvilleas though."

I laugh. Well, there are other flowers here. I've seen magnolias with huge flowers! Tons of flowers I could probably never keep the names. There's a soft pop all of a sudden and we have two guests from home joining us. 

"Well, hello there! Looks like some ghosts, if I'm not too wrong," Hermione remarks with a smirk.

"Missed you guys already! We thought we could haunt you a bit. This looks very posh here," says James with his trademark grin.

"Welcome! The more the merrier," I say.

Lily and James bring their usual cheerfulness along. I think, most ghosts would be disgusted at this happy couple of ghosts! They're almost indecently happy and cheerful! I don't even want to know what Snape would say to this. Neither James nor Lily know any bitterness. They feel each other differently than they feel us. It seems that to each other they're like solid, so they can be together and actually feel each other. Remus turns to Harry:

"You should have seen their snog-fests in our seventh year. The common room was usually empty in just a couple of minutes. And Mr. Headboy here used to smuggle Miss Headgirl into the boy's dorm all the time. Peter suffered from us, believe me. Back then I almost felt sorry for him. He had to put up with Sirius' and my nightly exercises and then in seventh year James and Lily added theirs."

Even though I'm more than glad that the rat sits in Azkaban not knowing anything about anything anymore I have to agree with Remus, that Peter was really patient with all of us. 

"Didn't he have a girlfriend?" Hermione asks.

"Just very short flings and I'm not even sure if he even got past a bit of groping - ever. He wasn't very attractive, painfully shy and usually clammed up around girls," James says coolly.

"I see."

"I've been thinking about that and I thought it's possible that this was the reason why he turned away from us. I mean, we did help him with everything for school, but we really couldn't go and ask girls out for him. Maybe he expected us to..." Remus remarks.

"You mean he betrayed us because of sexual frustration???" Lily asks.

"Could be, couldn't it? That and he was looking for more power. More power would have made it possible for him to ask someone out. But in all the months he probably didn't dare doing anything either, because of the mark on his arm," I reason.

"That's the poorest excuse I could imagine, but it would fit Wormtail," James says.

"Well, he's been taken care of anyway," Hermione reminds us.

"I for one am very glad about that, though it must have been horrible..." says Lily.

"Well, the Dementors can't hurt him anymore, he has no bad memories that could become painful," I say.

Then we turn back to brighter subjects again. Hermione starts to show her pregnancy. Harry caresses her belly constantly and is all smiles. Lily and James watch this display with amusement. Lily turns to her husband:

"You know, Harry reminds me so much of you now! You were just the same when Harry was under way."

"Was he, now?" Harry asks.

"Well, if you turn out to be exactly like your father I don't want to be around you in the last month of Hermione's pregnancy, Harry, because James drove everyone crazy! Your Mum threw him out of the house three nights out of seven. He turned up at ours like a dog that had been kicked," I tell the young ones with a grin.

"That's not true!" James tries to argue weakly.

"Oh, that's SO true! I was even sorry to dump you onto Sirius and Remus, you were so bad! Couldn't wait, was totally anxious, always thought I'd fall or something and hurt myself and lose the baby..."

We all laugh and Harry says:

"Meep! I promise not to become like that! Don't need to follow my Dad in everything after all, do I?"

James scowls at him, but gives up quickly.

"Just take care of that grandchild of mine!"

Remus and I say goodnight relatively early. We're both very tired and want to get a lot of sleep during the vacation. Of course, once we're back at our cottage, we look after the children, but they are sleeping soundly under their canopy and the mosquito net. They look so cute, both of them. We check the spell around the big bed which keeps them inside, even if they start crawling around and go upstairs to crawl into our own bed. It's still awfully warm for us, so we just shed our clothes and close all the parts of the mosquito net really well. Remus snuggles up and I spoon him and then we're asleep...

**Sunday, 28.6.1999 / Hermione**

It's the first rays of sun that wake Harry and I. First thing is that I feel his hand on my stomach, slowly caressing it. I open my eyes and look at Harry. His eyes are still closed, but they flutter open when I start to stir and kiss him. It feels so very romantic, us in that bed with the mosquito nets, the old-fashioned African fabric canopy and the tropical morning rising. I look at the bedside clock and find out it's just before seven in the morning. I'll set the alarm for six thirty tomorrow to be able to see the sunrise.

"Morning, love..." I say softly.

"Morning, Hermione. I'm still mostly asleep. Just needed to feel you beside me."

I kiss him tenderly and reply:

"That's alright, Harry, if you want, then just go ahead and sleep in, it's early. I need to go to the loo..."

I do that and when I come back from the bathroom I look out the open window and the balcony. This is what we'll enjoy for three weeks! It's absolutely beautiful, can only be compared to the view we had during our honeymoon. We'll stay here throughout the vacation, but both couples have booked a very special room at a very special hotel in Stone Town, the old town of Zanzibar. When it will be Remus' and Sirius' turn Harry and I will look after the twins. Of course we've also planned a few outings around the island, but mostly it will be time to relax under a sunshade on the beach. Harry and I have both brought some work with us, but it's only reading and we might be much too distracted to do much. When I turn back from the window and look to the bed I can see that Harry is asleep again. I open the mosquito net and slip into the bed again to cuddle up and get some more sleep. 

**Remus**

I'm waking up because I hear one of the children calling. Smiling I get up and pad down the stairs to the large room, where the twins share their big bed. Seraina is crawling around and calls me, but when she sees me coming I get a big grin and a cheerful:

"Papa!"

"Good morning, my little sweetheart! You're already awake?"

I take off the spell and pick her up. Denny wakes up, too and comes forth from his blankets. They're wearing nothing but a thin t-shirt and their nappies. I quickly change Seraina, then I let her on the floor, then I change Denny and banish both nappies into the rubbish bin in the kitchen area. I take the children up to our bedroom and pull the net apart to let them on the bed. Denny crawls to Sirius and cuddles.

"Daddy! Daddy!" he calls, but Sirius is still fast asleep.

I grin while I let Seraina follow her brother. Denny keeps trying to wake Sirius, but it seems that my lover really sleeps very deeply! All of a sudden, Sirius jumps up and growls, grabbing Denny and tickling him. Denny squeals and shakes with laughter after that. He giggles and giggles and Sirius keeps tickling him for a good moment before saying:

"A very good morning to you little ones!" 

Both children get a hearty kiss on their cheeks and both of them return the hug. 

"Are you guys hungry?" I ask.

"Hung-y!" Seraina confirms. 

Somehow she's faster with learning new words than Denny. She articulates a bit better, too, and Sirius claims that I must have been that way when I was such a small child. 

"Okay, we get up and go for breakfast soon."

I'm taking a quick shower and return to the bedroom, while Sirius vanishes in the bathroom. Half an hour later we're all dressed and off to the restaurant. We spend the day lazing around on the beach or in the cool of our cottage and go for an early dinner to the restaurant. I'm not sure about when the moon rises, but I don't think it will be before eight or nine. We get back at something after seven and to be very sure I transform and spend the evening in my wolf form. Hermione and Siri take the children to bed after a while and when it gets all dark, Sirius gets up and gives me a light slap on my back.

"Come on, old boy, we're going for a walk!"

"I'll baby-sit the children, Siri, you go for a lovely walk under the moon," Harry says with a grin.

"I'm coming along with you, if you don't mind," Hermione says.

Who says I'm going for a walk? I want to stay right here! But Sirius pesters me until I get up with a growl. He laughs and coos:

"Come on, Moony, you know you feel like a stroll!"

I sigh - at least it feels like I do and follow them. The two of them talk quietly while I'm walking along with them. The evening is really wonderful and Moony wants to howl at the moon, but I hold back. I nuzzle Siri's hands occasionally and he gives me a good caress of my head just behind the ears on my neck where I like it best. I don't know how long we're outside, but we're there for a long time and we meet quite a few other guests who were drawn out of their rooms and cottages by the full moon. Most of them look at me and give me a wide berth. That's when Sirius usually caresses me demonstratively. 

Then we pass a couple with their children and to my dismay I discover they're students of ours. Jonathan Gibson is a fourth year Hufflepuff and Sabina is a sixth year Ravenclaw. Of course they spot Sirius immediately and greet him.

"Professor Black? Oh, it's so nice to meet you! Hello, Professor Lupin!" Sabina cries and her brother follows suit.

Her parents look a little bit weary, but seem to accept it that their children are comfortable with meeting a werewolf teacher. 

"Hello, you two!" Sirius replies and turns to the parents. "Mr. and Mrs Gibson, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sirius Black, have so far been your children's potions teacher and will be Sabina's transfigurations teacher from the start of the new term."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, Professor. I hope, my children are well behaved at Hogwarts..." says Mrs Gibson.

"Much better than I ever was as a student, I assure you, Mrs Gibson! Though my partner here would probably tell you that that's a pretty easy thing to do. Due to the full moon you meet him in his alter form tonight... he's your children's Defence against the Dark Arts professor. Though Jonathan won't have him next year, only Sabina."

"I'm sorry, but it seems so silly to say, pleased to meet you, Professor to a wolf. No one would think he's anything but a tame wolf, the way he sits next to you!" says Mr. Gibson and grins a bit.

I growl. Not sure what I detest more, fear of me or mockery! But then Sirius says casually:

"Well, believe me, he's the real thing. What you see here is the workings of the wolfsbane potion. Remus is like an Animagus right now, his own self inside of the wolf with some wolf instincts. Open your mouth a bit, Remus!"

I do and he places his hand inside. I gently close my mouth and he explains:

"If he'd bite down now and draw blood I'd start transforming next full moon. But there you see how this potion works. Remus would never do that. Were he without his potion we'd all been torn to shreds by now."

"Wow," Mr. Gibson says and continues: "My children have told me a lot about you, Professor Lupin and both really liked your classes. I do have the feeling they finally learned some useful stuff in that subject. With all respect to good old Albus Dumbledore he's never had a good hand with finding good people in Defence! Our oldest has been out of Hogwarts for two years now and the array of teachers he's had... come to think of it, you were one of them and if memory serves me right he said you were the best of the lot. Only one other held up. Alastor Moody or something..."

"If only it would have been Alastor, Mr. Gibson. It was a Death Eater polyjuiced as Alastor. Alastor himself would have done a growling, but good job."

"You know the man? I've only heard he did wonders as an Auror."

"Yes, I do. He's trained me as an Auror after Hogwarts."

"You must be a pretty good all-rounder if you change from teaching potions to teaching transfigurations at Hogwarts?" Mrs Gibson says.

"I think I am, Madam. Of course those are subjects you need to be good at to become an Auror. But I'm definitely better at transfigurations than at potions."

"And he's very good at potions. I've had him for three years and made an outstanding OWL and an outstanding NEWT with him as a teacher. In both subjects, by the way," Hermione says.

The Gibsons turn to her.

"This is Hermione Potter, she's been taught by Remus Lupin and I at a safe-house while Voldemort and his cronies were after her and several other students. She's left school a year ago and that's when Remus and I returned to Hogwarts. At the safe-house we tutored thirteen students of her year from all four houses and both of us had to cover all the subjects we could."

"Oh. Pleased to meet you. Don't we have you to thank for the Commumirrors? I thought your face was somewhat familiar, Mrs Potter," Mrs Gibson says, looking pleased.

"Yes, that would be me."

"What a wonderful invention. Is it true that you did this on an assignment for school?"

"Yes. Remus was my Charms teacher then. He thought he might give us something to tax our minds and invent some spells of our own. He's pretty good at that."

"Well, we must meet during the daylight then when you'll be back, Professor! I'm actually very content that my children have teachers with whom they're happy. It's so hard to motivate them to study these days."

"I think, we both have a few things up our sleeves that can be very motivating. You'll have an addition to your regular school letter, Sabina, which will make your sixth year look a bit less dull. Sixth year is so often disregarded as a pause between the two exam years."

"Oh, I can't wait! I've been good in transfigurations, but rather in spite of Professor McGonagall. Not to be disrespectful, but she is sometimes a bit hard to understand..."

"You'll be very pleased with Sirius, I can promise you that," Hermione says with a warm glance at Siri.

"Why thank you, Mrs Potter. Are you trying to flirt with me? I'm afraid I'm very taken, you know!"

"Knowing that your mate is going to growl at you any moment, I'd never dare, Mr. Black. And that's beside the point that Mr. Potter would probably make kebabs out of you, godfather or not..." she shoots right back.

Yes, I think, a little growl is in order here. Sirius laughs and puts his hand back on my head. 

"Can't risk our poor children to become half orphans..." Sirius gives in.

We part from the Gibsons after promising we'd see them again on the beach.

Then we walk on, not looking back. I want to walk more when I'm human again, this is too beautiful out here. But for the moment I have enough and nudge Sirius to turn around. He looks down, his hand resting on my head.

"Got enough?"

I nod. 

"Okay, we'll walk back."

We return and at our cottage we release Harry from his duty and go to our room to sleep. 

**Friday, 3.7.1999 / Harry**

This is the weekend, Hermione and I will spend at a hotel right in the middle of the old town of Zanzibar. It's our first trip to the 'city' and when we get there with our rented car we both find it breathtaking. After a bit of asking around, many people here speak a bit of English, we find the place we're staying at for two nights. We get to our room and it's simply breathtaking. Old colonial style mixed with Arabic ornaments and colourfully painted African fabrics, the ever present mosquito net around the four-poster bed and a bathroom with some stone bathtub of a pretty enormous size for a Muggle hotel. The colours of the room are a rich earthy brown, white-washed walls, beamed ceiling, mahogany hardwood floor and the balcony as well as the arched windows are done with intricate Arabic latticework. There are windows, but they are all left open. There are no shutters, just thin curtains, but the latticework high balcony railings are covering quite well. The floor is covered with a rich carpet and the sitting area is roomy, with two couches and two armchairs. We're tired from the day's driving, so we just fall into the spacious bed and cuddle for a while, necking and discussing where to go for dinner. Stone Town offers a wide range of very nice restaurants and when we pass at the reception later on we get a few tips. We've showered and put on some light summer clothes, but Hermione is pretty well covered. 

We find a good restaurant and order some seafood for dinner. We're waited on very well and we leave a good tip after the meal. I take Hermione's hand and we simply stroll around for a bit, admiring this very special atmosphere. It's probably very Arabic. A trademark for that is the fact that in many of the narrow alleys the houses have a front door and otherwise no windows at all to the street. We have to look up and see more intricately carved stone lattice. These lattice walls look like filigree. 

"They want to keep their homes very private, but up above there they want to catch the cool night air, so they have few windows to open and close, but these grids where the wind can enter their homes. At the same time the grids work as a wind breaker, so it doesn't storm inside, you just get the breeze. That's typically Arabian," Hermione explains quietly. 

I can see the point. Since almost all of the people here are Moslems, this makes sense. They want to keep strictly private. It's the reason why Hermione wears something light, but covering her arms and legs. She doesn't go as far as to wear a scarf around her head, but I can see that some people give her affirmative glances. 

We're eager to return to this great hotel though and do so fairly quickly. The room is just wonderful. We have a feeling of being outside, but we feel perfectly private. It's these balconies...

We spend a night of lovemaking and in the end we both fall asleep very exhausted. I hold her very tight and like every night since she's told me I need to feel that womb which hosts our future child. As she's beginning to show her pregnancy quite prominently this baby becomes more and more real for me. She's in her seventeenth week now, as good as halfway through. Still, the beginning of December seems so very far away!

**Saturday, 18.7.1999 / Sirius**

Merlin, time just flew! This island is pretty big, but we've seen it quite well now, having spent a bit of time on the road to see the sights. We've been to the old town of Zanzibar, we've gone to different beaches, we've done a bit of snorkelling, and we've been to the forests to catch a glimpse of the local fauna. We've got a whole mass of new photos! I'll need to spend some time next week to recuperate from the heat and just busy myself with creating a photo album of the weeks spent here. 

Remus is beautiful! For once he allowed the sun to reach his skin, almost all of it and he's beautifully tanned. He looks great! We've been doing a stroll every night, sometimes on four legs, mostly on two, hand in hand or arm in arm. There are no problems with clothes shed down to the swimming trunks in the holiday resort, but otherwise we respect the sensitivity of the local people and pull on light kaftans or wear covering western clothes. 

Seraina and Denny both look like little brown hazelnuts. They have grown a bit and learned a few new words, even two in Kiswahili, the local language. Both learned to walk in the sand, which was a good training to walk more easily on solid ground. At almost fifteen months they're still crawling on all fours, with quite an agility even, but they start to prefer to move on two legs now. 

Harry and Hermione look equally healthy. Hermione has started to feel the baby kick! She's been so excited about it and can't wait to tell Lily as soon as we get back. She's already mirrored her Mum about it and I think, Helen was almost crying. 

We return to the Sunnegg and look forward to another month of vacation, but spending our time on that island was so much like being in another world completely! Of course we recommend it highly to the gang!


	12. Grimmauld Place and shocking discoveries

**Monday, 26.7.1999 / Sirius**

I take that time I promised myself and fill four lovely albums with the photo impressions we gained of Zanzibar. It was in every way as exotic as we imagined it would be and we didn't think we spent one moment too long there. 

But now there are other things that await me. As if the Gringotts goblins would have felt me they've sent me an owl asking me to finally settle all the leftovers from the Black family inheritance. I sigh, but I decide to pay No 12 Grimmauld Place a visit to get hold of all the papers that might be there. Before I go in there I ask Remus to come along. Padma, Blaise, Harry and Hermione are around and ask whether they should come and help, too, if only to be my moral support. I smile at their protectiveness. It's a wonderful feeling if one has been out there bustled around without a will of one's own for so long. Others might feel smothered by such protectiveness, but I have got used to it fairly quickly. Especially since the gang's protectiveness isn't an oppressive one. 

"That would be fine. I just have to pass at Gringotts first to see what exactly they look for."

"Fine with us, we just wait!"

"Good. Let's go then."

We take Seraina and Denny along. I know that the place will be dreary, but I think I will need their positive energy and their laughter. Harry immediately picks Seraina up and Blaise grabs Dennis. Remus has a bag with some food for everyone and then we're off, apparating to Diagon Alley, where I go to Gringotts while the others wait at Florean Fortescue's. 

"Ice cream this early in the morning! You're lucky guys," I say to the twins before we separate.

At the bank I first give my business to a clerk who then goes and gets one of the managing staff. He introduces himself as Tookook and leads me into a small conference room. 

"Thank you for responding to our letter so soon, Mr. Black. You know what this is about. We need to finalise the Black family inheritance. We know that you are the direct heir, so it all goes to you, but there's quite a muddle of vaults besides the ones you have been using."

"The main problem for me is the fact that I haven't set one foot into my family's house since I came back there after my fifth year at Hogwarts. So I really have to go and look through what's left of the papers after my parents' demise. Would you tell me what you need?"

"Wills, vault keys, deeds, anything that hints you are the rightful owner of these vaults. Here is a list of all the vaults we have found that are in your family's possession. If you can find any kind of relevant proof that these vaults are yours we can set up the contracts in your name again. Due to your imprisonment and the fact that there were no other direct heirs we couldn't get the business finished."

I quickly scan the list and almost faint. There are about fifty different vault numbers. Some names I recognise, others I don't, but I take the list and promise:

"Well, I have my work cut out there. I'll see what I can find. Will you give me a few days to go over the available papers? I will have to dig into my father's study, a realm I avoided as best as I could when I was a child. So I really don't know well where to start searching."

"Yes, of course, now that we've spoken with you we know that something will be done about it. Would you please contact me when you're ready? You can just ask for me in the main hall of the bank again."

"Very well, I'll do just that, Mr. Tookook. Thank you for your assistance."

I leave the bank, my head still musing over the list. I'll have to look at the dratted tapestry with the family tree to find some of those names and maybe work out links. I'm still deep in thoughts when I get to the ice cream parlour where the others enjoy the good weather and an ice cream outside.

"Hey, love! You should have an ice cream, too, just to put you in the mood to search that awful place!" Remus calls.

I shake my head.

"Nah, it will be cold enough in there without the need of ice cream in my belly. Maybe afterwards though. This is the list of all the vaults they found that could be linked to the Black family, Remus."

I show the scroll to my lover who gasps. Not only the amount of vaults is impressive, what's IN those vaults is incredible. According to that list I own several millions of Galleons! Since one Galleon is about two ounces of pure gold I don't even want to convert the value into Muggle money. 

"Oh dear," Remus whispers.

The others look at the parchment quickly and gasp, too.

"Wow, Sirius! You are one wealthy man," Blaise remarks.

"I won't ever be able to spend that much! I suppose I'll find a few good uses for some of that money. I'll talk to Amelia Bones about it, but that's not my first priority. First we have to search Grimmauld Place to find anything that links with those vaults. Let's go. We take Muggle transport, since it's right around the corner from here."

We board the Tube at Tottenham Court Road and leave it at Chancery Lane. From there it's about ten minutes to walk until we get to the dreary tiny corner that is Grimmauld Place. It's not totally run down, but it wasn't ever much. I've always wondered why the Black family, as haughty as they all were, have decided to settle in the middle of a Muggle area. We pass No 11 and the next door is No 13. I have to make them see the place.

"It's so well hidden that not even wizards find it unless they're shown. It's also unplottable and only a Black by blood can open the door. Let's see if they were able to bar me from doing so."

I walk up to the door and tap my wand on the knob. There's a creak and the door opens to the inside. A cloud of must comes out and I decide to leave the door open to let some air in. The moment we step inside and move a bit there's an incredible screech though. What the fuck is that? Then I recognise the voice when she starts to scream:

"FILTH! SCUM! DIRT HAS ENTERED THE NOBLE HOUSE OF THE BLACK FAMILY!!!! ARCTURUS WHERE ARE YOU WHEN YOU'RE NEEDED? OUT! OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!"

My mother. That ugly portrait of hers in the entrance hall has been enchanted to be a talking one in the meantime like all the others. Oh dear, that's going to be fun. Luckily there are two mouldy curtains that can be closed around the painting. I quickly close the door after all.

"Sorry, guys. Meet my lovely mother. Isn't she charming? SHUT UP, you old hag! Arcturus is dead as are you and you can't call for him. This house and all is mine now."

Remus helps me to pull the curtains closed. We mute the children as best as we can and move forward. Amazingly the house smells musty, but it's clean. Is there a house-elf still here? They're bound not only to the family who owns them, but to the house as well, so I start to look around and really, not long after we silence the portrait, one of them comes scrambling out of the staircase that leads to the kitchen in the basement. It's Kreacher, my own personal jailer back in my childhood. I grab him by one of his long ears and pull him into the nearby drawing room. The others follow and Harry has the good sense of closing the door. 

"Kreacher! What's my mother calling for Father?"

"I is not telling, Master, I is not telling!"

"Oh, you're not? You know that I'm the only remaining heir of the Blacks and as you so promptly found out I'm also your master. Will you deny a direct order?"

"Master is not ordering Kreacher, Mistress would be so angry!"

"The Mistress is dead, Kreacher! Has been for some time now. Will you deny a direct order?"

"No, Master."

"You're to reply to my question!"

"Master Arcturus died only a short while ago," Kreacher finally squeaks.

"What do you mean by 'short while'? I was told in Azkaban first that my mother had died, then my father..." 

I'm startled. I remember now that I never asked anyone for confirmation about that and look at Remus who shrugs his shoulders.

"I've seen the obituary notices ages ago, but I wouldn't remember when exactly. Certainly before you left Azkaban," he explains.

We all turn back to Kreacher. 

"Three months," he tells us.

My father STAGED his death? Did he possibly stage my mother's as well? And why? Did they go insane after all? More insane than they already were, that is.

"Fine. Are there any other house-elves besides you left?"

"No, Master."

"Okay. I don't need you right now, Kreacher. Go to the kitchen and stay there until I call you again and don't get in the way. That's an order, Kreacher!" I stress.

"Yes, Master."

He leaves. Hermione stares at me and says:

"Sirius! That's not how you treat house-elves normally."

"No, it's not, but he's not your ordinary house-elf, you know. None of my parents' house-elves were. They were all of the same vile denomination as my parents. And Kreacher's very certainly too old to be reformed. Well, as you can see this is the drawing room. We'll come back here if we don't find anything in the study or the library. Let's first try the study, it's just the next room to the right. Or shall we split up in groups?"

"We might better split. Hermione and I could take over the library if you show us where it is."

"Good idea. But beware and check each and everything you find for concealing or protective spells. There's some very dark stuff in there. Rather just mark something and call me. There are books that can only be opened by someone with Black blood, like the door handle. And I show you the master bedroom, Padma and Blaise, you could look through that. Especially search for hidden spaces. You could also go through the other bedrooms on the upper floors. There must be about ten or so. I've brought this book, it has a handy spell to find passwords if any are needed and another to find hidden corners. Here they are."

We all look at the spells and memorise them. Hermione nods and asks:

"That one is certainly not in the regular Hogwarts library, is it, Sirius?"

"No, this one was hidden in the restricted section. Though it's certainly not Dark Arts. But it would be much too helpful for curious Hogwarts students."

"Such as yourself?" she asks with a grin.

"Such as myself, James, Remus and Peter of course..." I confirm with the same grin.

"Who takes the children?" Padma asks.

"I think, we do. The study has a large open space and they can play there," I decide.

Remus and I take over the children and show the way up the stairs. This staircase is just about the worst thing anyone can imagine. On the walls up it's decorated with heads of beheaded house-elves. In the hall downstairs it's filled with dreary old portraits of the same sort as my mother's. First we lead Blaise and Padma up to the master bedroom. Then we show Harry and Hermione the library and finally we go back down to the study. It's a large room, gloomy, as the blood red curtains on the floor to ceiling windows are drawn shut. I wave my wand to open the curtains and the windows. Then we look at the floor, which is dusty, so we quickly cast cleaning spells and then a spell that confines our children to a space the size of the carpet. We hand them their toys and Remus starts going through the bookshelves that line the walls. I sit down at the desk and check if I can open the many drawers. That's no problem. I call Remus over and ask:

"Do you dare trying to open one of these drawers? This one seems to be harmless..."

"Let's see."

He tries, but the drawer can't be pulled out. I nod.

"The same spell. I hope to come across it once, to be able to have it taken off. I would also like to clear that hall out there completely of anything that hangs on its walls, even if I have to burn it off. So, let me see. This here seems to be my father's notebook..."

Remus returns to his task and I open the notebook to look for the last entry. It's dated April 23rd 1999. I gasp. 

"Remus!"

Moony turns around and looks at me, then he comes over and I just point to the entry.

'23.4.99 / Can't move my legs. Just leave it be.' My father's distinctive script.

"Kreacher was right. He WAS still alive, Moony."

"What's happened here? We'll have to inquire at the Ministry, what they know about the death date of your father. I don't think that a ghost could have written this..."

"Neither can I. He was alive all this time and we all thought he was dead. What about mother? I wonder if she really did die when they told me she did. I've forgotten when it was, but I think it must have been around 1986 or 1987..." I say.

"I don't know, love. I really have no idea. Look for the Gringotts related stuff."

"Yes, I think, I'll leave this one for the moment."

I'm going through the rest of the drawer, but I just find a hidden enlargement that produces year after year of notebooks. The next drawer contains keys. I recognise some of them as Gringotts keys and wonder if there's a way to find out the vaults that go with the keys. Then I can see that they are labelled. Good. Some of the task almost done, I start comparing the labels with the numbers on the list. The existing keys in the drawer cover almost thirty of the accounts.

"Phew! That's a lot already done, Remus. - Now on to the..."

I'm interrupted when the door opens and a very pale Blaise enters the room.

"Sirius! I think, you should come up. We've found something... rather frightening."

I get up immediately. Remus agrees to stay with the children, while I follow Blaise up the stairs to the second landing. He leads me to the master bedroom and shows what they found in the room:

"Mostly jewellery. But there was a small box with keys..."

"Good."

I look up and see that there's an open space I had never seen before. 

"That's what I want to show you. Padma is still in there. There's a whole little apartment there. Come along!"

He goes ahead through a very narrow passageway and I follow him. At the end there's what looks like a small sitting room. When I enter I see Padma - and a girl who's my mirror, but can't be older than ten. She stares at me with wide ice blue eyes, the image of me and my father. She wears something I suppose was a set of robes my mother owned, reduced to her size. She looks very pale and fragile and I wonder if she's ever been outside in all of her life.

"She's hidden herself in her room. The door was locked with a simple locking spell. She doesn't speak to us."

I turn to the girl, bend down so I'm on her level, then I introduce myself:

"Hi. I'm Sirius Black. Who might you be?"

"You're Sirius? But you look nothing like the blood traitor Father said you were..." 

'Father? Could this be a sister... or, considering my mother's death date rather a half-sister of mine?' I think. 

"I'm no blood-traitor anyway, that was only an invention from Father and Mother and you probably think of the photo they published when I escaped from Azkaban. That's really not me. What is your name, child?" I ask as softly as I can.

"Adara Black."

"And what is your mother's name?"

"Leda Black."

That's Mother's name. I gasp.

"What happened to your mother, Adara?"

"She died when I was a year old," she explains.

So I was definitely not told the right death date. I quickly ask on.

"And do you know your birth date, Adara?"

"15th December 1989."

She's nine and a half years old? My mother gave birth when she was over seventy? I really wonder if they tried to produce another male heir and had bad luck. What ever happened to this poor child? I have to ask about father.

"I was told that Father died a few years ago, at least seven or eight. When did you see him last?"

"I don't know, but it's a long time. He vanished. Kreacher has been taking care of me since then."

"I'll do that from now on. Adara, that means you are my little sister. Have you gone to school?"

She shakes her head.

"I've only been here. With Father."

'Oh no. At least she doesn't have the haughty snotty tone Regulus had by the time he was her age.' I look at her and take her hand.

"I have come to clean up this house. I didn't expect to find anyone living here at all, I knew nothing of your existence, Adara. Were you at least taught how to read and write?"

"Yes. And he taught me other things, too. Astronomy and English. And the family history."

"Okay. You're not afraid of us, are you?"

Adara looks at us and admits:

"A bit. I've never seen anyone but my father and Kreacher."

"There are many people outside, Adara. You will learn about them soon. I will have to take you to my home, where we will prepare a room for you. Then you will get some nicer clothes, alright?"

"Nicer? Isn't this nice?"

"I recognise this one from my mother and she didn't have what you could call taste... no, it's not too nice, you'll like much more what we'll get you."

Merlin, but I'm still shocked! I have discovered in the course of an hour that my parents haven't died when the public thought they did and then find out that they have in fact left a little girl who they, well my father, locked up for all of her life. This is going to be very hard. At first I'll need Mrs Winter and a Ministry official here as soon as possible. But I do lead Adara down to the study first, where Remus still goes through the books and the twins are playing. When we enter, he turns around and his jaw falls to the floor.

"Who's that?" he asks.

"That, dear Remus, is Miss Adara Black. She's turning ten years old in December and has been locked up in this house by my dear father for the whole of her life. Of what she tells me I deducted that my mother died around the end of 1990 or early 1991. - I don't remember precisely when I was informed of her death, but I definitely know it was still well in the 1980s. So they must have withdrawn from the society around then completely. Adara tells me Father never left the house. Kreacher has been looking after her since he died."

"Oh my."

After the first shock wears off, I explain to Adara, who stares at the twins:

"Well, Adara, meet Remus Lupin. He's my life partner and these two little ones are our children. Dennis is my son and Seraina is Remus' daughter. Both have the same birth mother, so they are twins."

"They are cute, Sirius," Adara remarks, much to my astonishment.

"Yes, they are. You can play with them, if you want to."

"What do I play with them?"

I roll my eyes secretly. I'm sure Adara has never really played. She'll have to relearn everything she had been taught, the poor dear. 

"They have toys. If you sit with them I'm sure they'll come soon and show you their toys and what they play. Just be with them for a while and you'll see. They're very nosy and will check you out," Remus explains softly.

Adara nods and sits down on the carpet. We just watch for a while. It doesn't take long and the two little ones come crawling closer. They look up to us with the question in their eyes who this is. Remus and I crouch down and explain:

"This is your Auntie Adara, my little Marauders, so be nice with her. She wants to play with you, but she doesn't know what to play with you, so you best both show her!"

Our twins, being the open minded and curious things they are, soon take Adara in completely. I look at Remus and whisper:

"Who knows, these kids could help her out of that stupor, which she seems to be in. I imagine it must be very hard that all of a sudden people come into her life, when she's spent it practically alone in the company of two lunatics all those years."

Remus nods. 

"She's a very lovely child. Looks like your mirror, Siri."

"I know, that's what I thought when I saw her in that room upstairs. Blaise and Padma couldn't get anything out of her."

**Padma**

This is a bit of an adventure. We walk up the stairs with Sirius and he shows us the master bedroom. Blaise and I use the spells he's shown us and we find several jewellery cases with some astounding jewellery. I place everything on the big desk under the window, so Sirius can pick it up afterwards. We look through the night stands. 

"Here's a small box with keys that look like Gringotts keys," Blaise remarks.

"Oh, good. That should make for some of those vaults. Let's put it to the jewellery cases."

There's a very large mirror on one wall. Mirrors are often hiding places, so I try the spell that shows hidden spaces and then the one to find out passwords. A password has been placed on the mirror, I say it after it's revealed. The mirror vanishes completely and we can see into a passage. Blaise goes in first, then I follow. It's not very long and at the end we come into a sitting room. There's a door to the right of that room that leads to a short hallway with more doors. The sitting room is furnished with dark pieces of furniture and it looks fairly gloomy. I enter the hallway and open the other doors. A small kitchen, a bathroom, then a bedroom. A small scream turns my attention to the someone who lives here. I gasp. It's a little girl! And she looks exactly like Sirius must have looked as a child. Blaise follows me and gasps, too.

"Oh my! She looks like Sirius!" he says.

"Exactly like Sirius. - Hello, little girl. I'm Padma, what's your name?" I ask, but I get no reply, she just stares at me and shakes her head. 

After a few fruitless attempts at getting her name I turn to Blaise:

"Go, call Sirius up, Blaise..."

He nods, vanishes and is back a while later with Sirius. Maybe she talks to him, because he's a Black, I don't know, but at least we now know a little something about her. After Sirius has taken her down to the study I go through the little flat and find a few notes written about her, probably by her father. This is all very strange and very scary, too! I pick the notes up and go back to the bedroom, where I find Blaise again. We take the jewellery and the little box with the keys and head down the stairs to take everything to the study.

**Hermione**

Harry and I enter a fairly well sized library. It's dark and we have to light our wands to find chandeliers that we can light. Once we have some better visibility I try to find the nearest windows, so I can let in some light from the outside. When I find it, I draw back the curtains and open the windows as well as the shutters. Sunlight streams into the room now. Harry switches the chandeliers off. 

"Wow, this is darkest stuff, Hermione! I think, Remus will be very interested in what's in here."

"We'll have to go through the books once. To find out what's better to be destroyed. This looks much more dangerous than even the restricted section at Hogwarts!"

"It does. Now what are we looking for?"

"Anything that looks like it could be a safe, desk or other storage system... and then maybe something like a book where the family births are registered," I suggest.

"Okay."

We go over the books first. We try the extraction spell we used at the Sunnegg library and four books come out of the shelves. I take them to a table to study them, while Harry searches the empty wall parts for a safe or something. His revealing spell actually brings forth some metal case that could be a safe.

"I won't touch that, it's certainly bound to the Black blood..." he says.

"That's surely sensible. We'll call Sirius for it. There's no hurry." 

"No, there isn't. Found anything interesting?" he asks.

"This one here. Records every family member it seems. I'm about half through, 18th century..."

"Look at the end. Regulus should be the last entry!" Harry suggests.

I open the last pages and search for the last entries, one page for each entry. There's text... then I gasp.

"Look here, Harry! Dennis' name is inside! It seems to record every Black ever born!"

"Wow! But what's this? Look, here, right after Regulus and before Dennis! Adara Black, born 15th December 1989, to Arcturus and Leda Black. Is that another uncle of Siri's we know nothing of?"

I don't know. 

"No idea. But let's look at Sirius' father..."

Sirius' birth is registered two pages earlier right before Bellatrix Black's. 

"Sirius Orion, born 18th October 1959, to Arcturus and Leda Black. - That tells us who this Arcturus is, certainly not an uncle, but Sirius' father. And it means he was still alive in 1989. And, more so, his mother was also still alive then if she's recorded to be Adara's mother. And that means, Sirius has, or had, a little sister, Harry."

We quickly leaf the entries through until we get to Arcturus. 

"Arcturus Black, born 2nd May 1908, to Deneb and Solange Black. Died 28th April 1999."

We gasp. The man had been declared dead a while ago! In reality he still lived until a short while ago. We pick up this book and others and quickly head downstairs to tell Sirius of what we've found. 

"We still don't know when his mother died, but certainly later than he was told. And what happened to the girl she gave birth to. There's no death date like with Regulus' entry," Harry summons the findings up.

"That's right, and that means she's still alive. There's no death date to Sirius', Andromeda's and Narcissa's entry either," I shoot back.

In front of the study we finally slow down and go inside - only to find the answer to our question. There's a black haired girl sitting on the carpet that looks exactly like Sirius. 

"We've found something, Sirius..." I pant.

"We did, too. Not only did my father only die about three months ago, my mother definitely lived longer, too. Meet Adara Black, she's my little sister," Sirius tells us.

I stare at the girl in awe. She's alive and well. I've been so worried from the moment I've seen that entry. 

"I know about her! Here's a book that records every new born Black child. Even Dennis' birth is recorded, here the very last one!"

"Wow! I didn't know there was something like that."

"We just used the retrieval spell that we used at the Sunnegg. I used the search criterion Black family birth records and voilà, there it was! And Harry's found something that looks like a safe, we didn't touch it beyond revealing it."

"Ah, good. That will all be looked through in the end. Blaise and Padma found Adara and lots of jewellery and another box full of keys. These and the keys I've found cover most of the list from Gringotts. We've just got to get through the book to find links to the remaining four names. But I want to call someone from the Ministry and Mrs Winter to get the facts about Adara straight. Remus plans to look up the Book of Names at Hogwarts to see if her name is recorded. That's not usually done, but in this case..."

"Understandable."

Sirius uses his Commumirror to call Jason. Jason refers him to a colleague and promises to come by with her immediately after checking the records about the elder Blacks. We wait for about two hours, spent looking through a mass of papers found in one of the desk compartments for any kind of a will. There's nothing. It seems that maybe Arcturus didn't expect to die anytime soon. Of course, ninety is not a very high age for a wizard, so that's not astonishing. But why did he stage his death?

"Why did he stage his death, Sirius? It's so... I don't know... unnatural!" I ask.

"The only thing I can come up with is that he's gone completely mad and that he wanted to make sure Adara's head wouldn't be tainted by the unclean outside. Toujours pur, remember."

"That would make a bit of sense..."

Jason finally arrives. Sirius has given him the exact coordinates and has lifted the anti-apparition ward. Jason is accompanied by an elderly, rather stern looking witch. He introduces her as Mrs Hazel Wood. 

"Hello, Mrs Wood. Kindly take a seat. Can we offer you some tea?"

"It's okay, thank you, Mr. Black. This was a rather weird story that Mr. Taylor told me just now. Would you care to elaborate?"

"Yes, I would. Can you tell us if you found out the official death dates for my parents?" Sirius asks.

"According to Ministry documents your mother died mid-August 1986 and your father died a year after that. You claim they died later?"

"Indeed they did. I'll start with the beginning of this. I received a letter from Gringotts requesting material to be able to finalise my inheritance and to change all the Black family vaults to my name. So I decided to look for such evidence at my parents' house, which I hadn't visited since I left it after my fifth year at Hogwarts in 1976. I was officially informed about my mother's and then my father's death in Azkaban, but since I had lost all sense of time by then I couldn't remember when exactly that was. Coming here today we started to go through the house and immediately found out that there was still a house-elf around, who told me after a while that my father has lived here until a few months ago. Then I found this notebook of his, which has a last entry on the 23rd April of this year. A short moment later I was called by one of our young friends to find a young girl, whose name is Adara Black. I questioned her and found out she is nine years old and has been born by my own mother, thus making it impossible that Leda died when I was informed of her death," Sirius tells Mrs Wood.

"Do you accuse the Ministry of informing you falsely?" Mrs Wood asks defiantly.

"No, no, nothing of that sort. I thought that my parents actually staged those deaths to withdraw completely from a society which they thought was tainted by bad blood, blood traitors, scum and half-breeds etc. They used to have a lot of derogatory terms for everyone with less pure blood than their own."

"Ah!"

"Well, then my other young friend here, had found this book in the library. It magically records every birth occurring in our family. The immediate family only. See here at the end even my one year old son shows up. And this here is my father's true death date. My mother's is not recorded, as she's not been born to the immediate family of course. She's only recorded as the mother of myself, my brother Regulus and the little lady there on the carpet, Adara. Since Adara is not yet ten years old, that official death date of my mother's in 1986 must be false. I suppose my father was rather insane in his last years. Maybe the 'loss' of his 'Master' has unhinged him after all."

"So this girl over there is your sister?"

"Undoubtedly. She's my spitting image, too. Just look."

A few glances back and forth and she nods.

"Yes, the family resemblance is definitely there. You are her closest relative of age, will you take care of her?"

"Of course! We're mostly living in Switzerland and at Hogwarts, but I'll take her along. Just two more years and she'll come to Hogwarts as a student anyway. The poor girl has been imprisoned more than long enough. I couldn't let her know of course, but I was shaking with anger about my father's cruelty. I do hope he never cursed her. But I'm afraid he probably did, guessing from how he's treated me."

"I'll have her birth recorded. And I'll have your father's death date corrected. Your mother's will have to be corrected with an estimated date. What I'd like to know now is what happened to the body of your father's?"

"I have no idea. I'll have to call for the house-elf to try and find out."

**Sirius**

I do that and a while later Kreacher shows up.

"Master has called Kreacher?"

"Yes, and you took long enough to turn up! What happened to my father's body after he died?"

"I is burying him, Master, as Master had requested!"

"Where?"

"In the backyard, Master."

"You'll show us where in a moment. Why didn't you say anything about Miss Adara?"

He looks at my sister with the same dislike he used to look at me. That tells me enough. He doesn't like her. And he doesn't answer my question at all. I sigh.

"Show us the place you buried the Master," I order. 

We follow him out of the house into the small backyard, which is completely surrounded by a very high wall and he points at a corner. 

"Do we have to have him exhumed?" I ask Mrs Wood.

"We can identify him through the earth I think. If the body is there we'll find it. What about your mother?"

"What happened with my mother, Kreacher?" I ask the elf.

"Mistress died long ago," he says.

"Yes, I know, but less than ten years. Probably not more than nine years ago, so where was she buried? In the family burial vault?"

He looks uncomfortable, then shakes his head. In the end he points to another corner next to my father's 'grave'. 

"Maybe I'll have them exhumed and buried properly in the family burial vault after all..." I sigh.

Mrs Wood nods.

"I'll have both places checked over. Can you grant me access to this house?"

"Yes, you can apparate in again, I'll leave the anti-apparition ward down. No one apart from us knows and I'll order Kreacher to stay in the house until this is done," I confirm.

"Thank you, Mr. Black. This must be very hard for you, too..."

"It's certainly not the easiest thing I ever went through and it was more than just a little shock, but I'm happy that I can help my little sister now. I want to give her at least a happy childhood as long as I can!"

"Good. That's it for the moment, I'll have the papers issued for your sister giving you the custody and will contact you about the identification process, then we can see about the relocation of the bodies to the family vault. Is it at Hogsmeade or in the cemetery in Diagon Alley?"

"Diagon Alley. Thank you, Mrs Wood, you can reach me by owl or on the Commumirror."

"Fine, thank you. Goodbye!"

Jason and Mrs Wood leave us and I turn to Adara.

"Well. I suggest we pack up what you would like to take with you, Adara. You'll not return here if I can help it. It was a prison for me and I suppose it wasn't much less than a prison for you."

She hangs her head a bit and then nods. I can't but pull her into my arms and hold her close. At first she struggles a bit, but then she presses her body to me and buries her face in my robes. I softly stroke her back and her head and say:

"You'll not suffer anymore, little one! You'll come with us and learn to know a lot of nice people and hopefully find a way to be happy. Will you let me help you?"

She nods into my robes. I tenderly stroke over her head and say:

"Good! So we go home and make your room ready and tomorrow we go out for a shopping trip. Will you be afraid to see many people?"

"I see people down on the road..." she says.

"Very well. They're a bit more real when you walk through throngs, but it's a normal day and there won't be as many as on a Saturday or so. Will you show us now what you'd like to take with you?"

She takes me by the hand and I follow her back to her little flat. Remus comes along since the children are under the gang's watch. In Adara's bedroom there are only a few books and she picks some nightclothes. Then she gathers her toiletry and I conjure a small suitcase to put these things inside. The room is quite bland. There's nothing that should be in a child's room, no warmth, as bare as my own room was. The sitting room doesn't contain much more and she only picks up another book. No wonder she doesn't know how to play! Gods, had I only visited this place earlier. I almost feel guilty for not at least coming after my name had been cleared. It's been almost four years since then after all. 

The tiny suitcase is packed, reduced in size and placed in the pocket of my robes. Remus offers his hand and Adara looks up at him and takes the hand. I give her my other hand and we leave that small place. 

"Have you ever left this flat before, Adara?" Remus asks.

She shakes her head. 

"Never?"

"I can't remember," she says.

"Oh dear. Did you learn some geography?"

"No, what's that?"

"That's learning about all the countries in the world..."

I can see that we'll have some work having her tutored in the next year, so that she'll be able to start Hogwarts. I'm glad that we do have some time to do that at all, as she'll only actually start two school years from now. With a birth date in December it will be better to hold her back until the following September, that will be 2001. 

Back down on the ground floor we gather all the Gringotts keys and the list, several of the books and papers that we still want to inspect more closely. I think, we've been very lucky with the keys. The last four names I'll try to find out, but if they're lost, who cares...

I look around.

"Are we ready to go home?"

"Definitely. I don't know about you all, but the air in here isn't the best..." says Harry.

We all laugh and go about closing all the windows we've opened, then the others leave the house through apparition. Hermione takes care of Denny and Padma has Seraina. I charm a book to be the Portkey that will take Adara and myself to the Sunnegg.

"This will feel very strange, Adara, but it won't take long, then we'll be far away from here, in Switzerland, that's a whole other country. Don't worry, you'll not be hurt!"

"Okay."

"Then step closer to me and we both touch the Portkey. I'll be with you."

She puts her hand on the book and I touch it as well, then tap it with my wand and say: "Portus!"

The Portkey takes us into the typical whirl and sets us back down in the living room at the Sunnegg. I hold up Adara and steady her. 

"There we are. Now let's see what we can do about a room for you. But first let's introduce you to the family who lives here. We're a very big family as you will see!"

James, Lily, Ginny, Ernie, Morag, Neville, Parvati and Draco are at home. When I turn up with my sister they all stare with big eyes at the girl.

"Who's she?" James asks.

"She's my little sister and her name is Adara. I'm afraid she'll still be very shy, because she's really not used to people. Prepare for a very gruesome and rather morbid story. Let me first introduce you all to her, okay? Fine. Adara, these two are ghosts. I don't know if you met any ghosts at Grimmauld Place, I don't remember any back when I was a child, but who knows?"

"No ghosts. What are they? They look see through and they talk!"

I grin.

"Yes, that's because they're actually the spirits of two people who are dead. This is Lily and this is James. They were a married couple and when they still lived they were Harry's parents. This lovely young lady here is Ginny Weasley. Then this is Ernie McMillan. Morag MacDougal. This is Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, Parvati Patil, as you can see she's Padma's sister. They are all living here, together with Remus and I and the four people you already know. And then there's still Ginny's older brother Ron and Justin Finch-Fletchley and Mandy Brocklehurst. I know that's a bit much for you right now, so take your time, you'll get to know them all slowly but surely. We also have a couple of guests fairly frequently. But there is enough space to give you your own room."

"She can have mine. I'm mostly at Ernie's anyway, Sirius," Ginny says immediately. 

"That's great, Ginny! That would be perfect."

"She needs to be close to you, we're all strangers - yet. Hello, Adara, it's nice to meet you. We all love your big brother, so I hope you'll like him, too! He's a lot of fun and a good source for knowledge, too! Do you want me to show you the room?"

For a moment I feel Adara's hand hold tighter to mine but then the grip loosens, she looks at Ginny and nods.

"Fine. Come! Do you have some luggage?"

"Not much, Ginny. We'll go clothes shopping with her tomorrow! I don't think she's ever received anything new. This is a set of robes reduced in size from one of my mother's."

"Oh dear! I'll give you something more comfortable from my things, so you can go out tomorrow and shop, okay?"

Ginny holds out her hand and Adara takes it. I smile. Ginny has an incredible way with children. She gives me a little wink, leaves the room with Adara and I can finally sit down and bury my face in my hands. Remus sits down next to me. The shock still sits deep. I can't believe what my parents did to her. It's a crime and it's so painful to know that I could have shortened that imprisonment if I had only...

"Stop musing, Sirius! It's not your fault and you couldn't know anything about it!" Remus says tiredly.

"Remus is right. That's just the kind of guilt we had about the other things, Sirius, and it was you who talked me out of it," Harry adds. 

I sigh.

"I know, but..." I trail off. 

They all know what I mean. I'm thinking what if... and I suppose that even they do. 

"Who will baby-sit for us tomorrow, so we can take Adara shopping?" I ask, to change the subject.

"We'll be here, don't worry," Parvati says.

"Thanks!"

**Tuesday, 27.7.1999 / Remus**

After a night of sleeping over yesterday's shock Sirius and I are a bit more relaxed. He wakes me up and we enjoy our daily dose of our children's babbling. And that reminds us that all of a sudden we have a third child. Who's a bit older but needs a lot of tutoring in just about any subject. 

"We'll hire a teacher for her, Remus. She needs to be taught in so many things and even though we have less lessons now we won't have enough time for that. I'll gladly pay a private teacher. I'll ask Madam Reeves, she's the current headmistress at Hogsmeade Primary, to give me a few pointers. Then we'll see that we have her busy from the start of the term."

"Yes, I think that will have to be. She's certainly not a dumb kid, Sirius. And she has two years of time, I'm sure we'll bring her up to speed and ready to start Hogwarts."

"I think so, too. Let's get up and take the young lady shopping! She deserves some really nice showering with girlie things! And a huge cuddly teddy bear."

Sirius grins. It's still quite early, but shops open at eight during normal business days and that's very soon. We find our twins happily babbling and entertaining themselves. Denny beams at me when I go in and calls for me.

"Baba! Baba!"

So good to hear this. I love you, my son! 

"Good morning, my sweet one! Want to get up and go to breakfast? That's the good boy! Come!"

Once Denny and Seraina are up and dressed I go up to Adara's room and knock on the door. 

"Adara?" I ask softly.

She opens the door, already dressed in the clothes Ginny has prepared for her. It's a lovely dress and she wears sandals to it. 

"Good morning, Adara. You're already dressed? You could have come down and have some breakfast! You don't need to stay in your room, you know."

"Oh! Good morning, Remus."

"Well, the good side is that we get to eat breakfast together now! Hungry?"

"Yes, I am."

"That's very good. You'll love Dobby's breakfast. Or Winky's for that matter. They are great cooks."

She follows me down the stairs to the kitchen, where Dobby is at work and then out to the living room. 

"You'll get used to this place pretty soon, I think. Here, that's your place at the table now."

The five of us enjoy our breakfast, Sirius and I with a bit of a hassle to feed the twins. Giving them bottles was definitely easier! Now we have to start teaching them table manners and eating with a spoon and a fork. Sirius and I cut the scrambled eggs and the bacon into tiny bits so they can pick it up with the spoon or the fork, which they try, but they still have a bit of a problem and scourging charms are required to resolve the mess in the end. Adara grins when she sees them.

"They have fun and look funny, don't they?" Sirius remarks.

"They do."

While we're still eating, Hermione comes from the kitchen. She's got her nose deep inside of a book, but looks up and wishes us all a good morning.

"Adara, we will get ready to leave now. We have a bit of a trip until we get to the shops."

"Do we go there with a Portkey again, Sirius?" she asks.

"No, we are going by car," Sirius explains.

"What's a car?" she wants to know.

"One of those things you've seen passing on Grimmauld Place," Sirius explains, not even flinching.

"Oh."

"By the way, do you mind, if we call you Addie, Adara? It sounds so much warmer in my ears," Sirius says.

"No, I don't mind. Where is Ginny? Do you think, she could come with us?"

"She's probably not up yet, but you can go and ask her. Just knock on their door, I'll show you where," Sirius says.

He gets up and shows Addie the way, then comes back and lets her ask Ginny. We hear a short conversation, then Addie comes back, beaming. I think she's rather taken with Ginny! 

"She said she'd come with us if we're ready to wait for her!"

"Then we wait for another moment. Okay, my boy, you are ready for your day's adventures! Nicely fed and clean again, so off you go, play with your sister!" Sirius tells Denny after cleaning him. 

Seraina follows and then both of them look for their toys, which Dobby and Winky have nicely returned to their big box of toys at the end of the room. It's an everyday routine already. During the night all the toys get diligently cleaned and returned to their toy box and during the day almost everything is strewn across the living room. We'll have a hard time teaching them to clean up after themselves and we'll have to start telling them to clean up again fairly soon. 

Ginny comes into the room, still a bit sleepy, but dressed and her hair brushed. 

"Good morning everyone," she says with a little yawn and fixes her long hair into a ponytail.

"Hi Ginny! I hope, you don't mind to come with us, Addie wanted you."

"No, that's fine. We'll find lots of nice things for you, won't we, Addie?"

"I don't know, Ginny, will we?"

"You bet, young lady!"

"What is bet?" Addie asks. 

Ginny looks at us, a bit startled. I quickly tell her in German that Addie probably knows very few of these everyday things, because she's grown up so isolated.

"Oh. Well, Addie, a bet is when you and I each claim something and the one who gets it done or wins it, has won the bet. It's used as an expression. You are so sure of something that you are ready to place a bet on it. Not REALLY betting. I'm sure we'll find lots of lovely stuff for you. You don't expect me to scrimp and save, do you, Siri?"

"Definitely not. Whatever we spend is partly hers, too, anyway."

"Fine. What are we waiting for?"

"Nothing anymore. We can be off if you're ready."

"I am!"

Ginny leads Adara out of the house through the side door and we all go over to the smaller Mercedes. I open the door at the back for Adara and make sure that the child security switch is on, then I show her how to fix the belt.

"That's so that you won't fly around the car if we have to stop short," I explain to her.

"Ah."

I gently close the door. Ginny sits next to Adara on the other side and fixes her belt as well, Siri takes the passenger seat and I'm doing the driving. On the way to Bern we make a mental list of what Addie will need. 

"Well, you need underwear. Two or three pairs of jeans, another pair of some kind of trousers I'd say, then t-shirts, a nice blouse or two, some summer dresses, shorts, socks, jumpers, maybe a skirt or two, shoes, one pair closed, one pair of sandals. Some nice nightshirts or pyjamas, which would you prefer, Addie? Sweatpants, a bathing suit or two... and we'll need to give your hair a nice trim, Addie, it's really lovely, but so messy. Parvati is a genius with that, she'll gladly cut it to length. She makes the loveliest braids, too..."

When we finally reach the town, Ginny's list seems endless. But soon she's pulled Addie into the fun of shopping for clothes, helps her try the things on and decide what she likes. Addie is like Sirius, she can wear almost anything. So it's the brilliantly coloured tops that Ginny combines with blue jeans and a pair of black trousers, then she helps pick some dresses. No matter what she puts on, Addie looks great. Sirius looks at his sister with great affection, I'm sure he's already smitten.

Both of us stay in the background, watch the girls and comment on how nice Addie looks. 

On our way through the town we pass one of the music shops where I get most of my classical CDs when I'm not shopping for them on the net. And today they have a piano out underneath the arcade and someone plays piano sonatas, small pieces, really nicely. Addie stops, listens, then takes Sirius' hand and listens some more.

"This is beautiful..." she whispers.

"Yes, it really is, isn't it?"

We listen for a while and then I feel Addie's hand in mine.

"Remus, was that something the Muggles do? I never heard something like this..."

"Actually there's lots of wizards who like music, too, we also have a wireless, just like the Muggles. But this here was certainly a Muggle. These are probably all Muggles here."

"Oh. Father said they are bad and must be eliminated... he wanted only pure-blooded wizards and witches to live."

"Let's just say that this is a somewhat twisted view. The world consists of mainly Muggles and a handful of wizards. We would have a very hard time to rot out all those Muggles, don't you think?"

"Yes, I believe that."

"Besides it's cruel. No one has the right to take the life of anyone. No one is better than someone else. We should all let others live like we want to live, too. There is a multitude of creatures for a reason, Addie, we're not entitled to say that one kind has the right to exist and another kind has not," Sirius explains.

"So Father was wrong?"

"Yes, Addie, Father was wrong - very wrong. One day you'll understand that what he did to you was a crime. You have every right to be very angry at him. Even now that he's dead," Sirius says.

"He did nothing to me, Sirius," Addie states.

"Didn't you ever ask to go out of the house?" Sirius asks.

"Yes, but he said I was to stay inside, because outside were the Muggles and they should not see me, I'm too pure."

Sirius, Ginny and I roll eyes.

"See? He kept you in a prison. Isn't it much nicer out here? To walk freely as you like and to feel the sun on your skin? He denied you the contact with other people. We all need other people, Addie, human beings are born to be with other human beings. We can't be happy if we don't have others to be with."

"Oh."

"You'll soon know what I mean, even if you don't understand yet. You'll learn a lot of things in the next few weeks and months, because you have been missing out on so many things. You've never actually missed those things, because you've never seen, heard or felt them. But just like the music, there's a lot more to discover."

Indeed this shopping trip is just the start. After the clothes we allow Addie to browse in the children's department of a bookshop, take her to taste the glories of McDonald's and allow her to choose things she'd like to play with. Before we go back to the car, buried under dozens of bags, Sirius asks Addie:

"Would you like a pet, Addie?"

"A pet? What's a pet?"

"An animal like a cat or a dog or a bird..." Ginny explains.

"I don't know..."

"Well, then we wait with that. Maybe you'll discover pets before long. Then it's still early enough to get you one," I remark.

We're all very tired by the time we reach the Sunnegg again. Hermione offers to help Addie to put her new things away and Addie allows Hermione to lead her upstairs. 

**Hermione**

That poor girl has been through hell and back and doesn't even know it. I wonder what happens when she finally understands what has been done to her. I guide her back to her room, levitating an abundance of bags and boxes in front of us. 

It's fun to help her to cut all the price tags off her new clothes and clear up the packages and put everything in the cupboard that has been cleared by Ginny. The weather is beautiful and all of a sudden Addie is very quiet. When I turn back from her dresser I can see her looking out of the window with her mouth slightly open. I position myself behind her and point out to the mountains.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" I ask softly.

She nods.

"They all have names. People have been around here for a long time and they looked at the mountains and gave them names. Some are a bit funny, others you wonder why they are called that way, then they were named again and again in the course of the centuries, but one thing remains the same always: these mountains will be there long after we are gone. When I look out there I'm always very much at peace."

"What's peace?"

Now there's an immense question. I sit down on the bed and look at her. She continues:

"Is that hard to answer?"

"Yes, but only because it's so hard to describe. You may know within you how it feels, but everyone feels differently. Peace is first of all the opposite of war. Do you know what a war is?"

"Fighting?"

"Yes. Basically two peoples fighting against each other. Or two groups of people or simply two persons. Peace is the opposite. Peace is first of all when two or more groups are content with each other and themselves. When we walk out there and the only thing we hear is the birds singing and the insects around us humming and the sun shining we feel happy. That's a form of peace. So when you're really feeling good you're at peace. With yourself, with the others around you, with the world, with life, happy to read a good book, happy about a test with good marks, happy, because you're loved by the special someone and by those around you. Do you understand that?"

"Now I think I do. May I ask you another question, Hermione?"

"Any question, Addie. You don't need to ask if you may, just ask, anytime. Okay?"

Now she even smiles. It's that beautiful smile Sirius has and Denny is about to develop!

"Okay. I've noticed yesterday and today that you all sometimes look at me when I ask things. Why is that?"

"I think it is because you ask things we think you should already know. And then we remind ourselves that you haven't grown up like every child should grow up and we try to think about how to answer your questions. Because the questions you put often ask from us to explain things that are not visible. Like just now. Peace is not a word that describes something you can look at or pick up with your hand. We call that an abstract word. It seems that you have a total lack of knowledge about abstract things. So keep asking, we keep trying to reply. And don't worry about those looks. We're all sympathetic and know that you've been kept away from everything. You will learn all of that."

"So you think I know only about things that can be touched, that are real?"

"Not only, but primarily. We don't know what your father and Kreacher have taught you, you see. To be able to live in this world today you have to know other things than you might have been taught. Yes, the 'real' things of course are as right in that world you've grown up as they are in ours. A bed is a bed, a book is a book and a spoon is a spoon, but the view at the abstract things is very different. What we can guess for example is that your father has certainly taught you that wizards and witches have to be of pure blood to be real wizards and witches."

"Yes, he said that every time I saw him. But Sirius says it's wrong."

"Well, let's put it this way. You've seen me doing magic this afternoon. Do you think it's in any way different from the magic Sirius does?"

"No."

"And yet my parents are Muggles. No one in my family is magical at all, but I am. If people like your father are right then I don't have a right to live, because I don't belong into the world of the wizards, but I also don't belong into the world of the Muggles. My magic is there and it's strong, so I could live in neither world. Do you think your father would have the right to just simply kill me because he doesn't like that my parents are Muggles and that I have the gift of magic?"

She smiles now and shakes her head.

"Well, there you are, Sirius is right and your father was wrong. And you are right as well."

"Thank you, now I think I understand it."

"That would be great. Do you know that Sirius already loves you very much? As do we?"

"That's if you like something very much, isn't it?" she whispers.

"Yes, Addie, that's precisely that. Did you ever have anything you liked very much?"

She shakes her head. Then she looks at me and says:

"Just the way I could cuddle in my comforter in my bed."

How sad! 

"You should have a pet..." I suggest.

"Sirius and Ginny said something like that, but I didn't know what it was."

"We'll see about it, Addie, I'll take you for a walk to farmer Gruber, our neighbour, they always have kittens around and you could play with them. I can turn myself into a wolf, that's like a big dog. Do you want to see that?"

"You can turn yourself into a wolf? I've seen pictures of wolves, but Father said they were killing people."

"Well, I certainly don't and we've already established that your father was wrong, haven't we? You don't need to be afraid, you can touch my fur. Look, here, don't be afraid!"

I change and sit in front of her, looking at her. She's of course a bit afraid, but when I gently nudge her with my muzzle, she starts to giggle. I butt her hand, still very gently, and she gets the idea. She starts to pet my head and my back and I lay my snout on her lap. 

"Are all wolves like you?" she asks.

I make a vague gesture which makes her laugh.

"Not all of them, eh? But some?"

I nod. Then I turn back and say:

"Of course the very few natural wolves that we still have here are very shy and withdrawn."

"I see. But I think that what my father talked about were werewolves anyway."

"Now that's something else entirely. Yes, werewolves CAN be killers. Ruthless killers even, but when they are people they are just as fine or not fine as anyone else. I mean they can be arrogant idiots or they can be fun loving, happy and nice people. Like Remus."

I throw a sideways glance at Addie to see her reaction about it. I know she has to be told and I think, I might as well do it now when she asks about them. 

"Remus? Why do you mention Remus?" 

She doesn't get the hint. So I'll have to be more blunt.

"Because he is a werewolf, Addie. But you have learned to know him since yesterday and I'm sure you will agree that he's a very nice person indeed, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is, but what happens when he's a wolf?"

"Ah, then he's just as nice. You see, there is a potion that werewolves can take and it helps them to keep their own mind and thoughts and feelings, so they do change into the wolf, but they are themselves inside. So they do not attack. Other than his transformation Remus remains Remus."

"Oh. So he really is a werewolf?"

"Yes, he really is. And he has suffered from being one for most of his life. A while ago he learned to change into the wolf whenever he wants to, just like me. That's called an Animagus. Sirius is an Animagus, too, but his form is a huge black dog. Ask him to show it to you once. Anyway, Remus transforms before the full moon rises and then he's quite a happy camper, because he doesn't feel all the pain from the shape shifting. You'll actually see it tomorrow, as tomorrow night will be a full moon."

We chat for some time longer until Sirius turns up to check on us and ask if everything was okay.

"Sure, Siri, we've just had a long conversation about lots of things. The full moon tomorrow for example," I mention.

"Oh, you've taken that off our shoulders? You're most kind, my dear! Addie, Remus and I have just discussed how we were going to explain to you that he's a werewolf. He will be most relieved he doesn't have to do that anymore. It's always hard for him, when he has to tell someone. People have hurt him too often when he did. So I'd be really happy if you could just show him you like him in spite of the wolf. IF you like him, of course. But so far I've not found anything that's not to like about Remus."

Siri grins. I look around and remark:

"Well, Addie, I think, we have made this as nice as we could for you. We'll still have to take you to Madam Malkin's to get you a few sets of nice robes, what do you think? Muggle clothing is all nice and well, but robes are really something fine, aren't they?"

"Yes, I think, Hermione is right about that. We will have to go to Diagon Alley anyway and then we'll take you along. I'll have to find out what to do at Hogwarts, if we could get the neighbouring flat next to ours and make a connection, then you could have a nice room there, too."

"Hogwarts? I thought you have to be eleven to go to Hogwarts?" Addie asks.

"That's right, but you'll still be there, sweetheart, because Remus and I are working there. We're both teachers, you know."

"Oh."

We get up and go down the stairs and back to the living room. It's time for dinner and the others turn up from all sorts of sides. We have started the custom of serving a little aperitif before the meal, so we're all a bit early. It's half past five. Addie receives a glass of Coke, something she's certainly never tasted before and gets a taste of some Muggle aperitif snacks. We just watch that she doesn't eat too much of those. She's now wearing a pair of her new jeans and a shocking pink tank top which suits her raven hair and her ice blue eyes perfectly. Sirius looks at her with affection and I swear he's already thinking of her as his daughter. 

"One could think, Addie was your daughter, not your sister, Siri," Ginny teases him.

I laugh out loud. 

"Ginny, great minds think alike, I've just decided to keep this observation to myself."

Sirius isn't fazed one bit. Addie looks a bit confused from us to him and back, but he just smiles and says:

"Well, I'm old enough to be her father twice over! I was thirty when she was born!"

"He's got a point there..." James says.

"Whichever, I'll act as her guardian, thus I might as well be her father! Thinking of our parents I'd have to say she's got bad blood, but then, so have I and look how I turned out! We'll be great, the two of us, won't we, Addie?"

Everyone laughs, so she tries it a bit, too, but I think she'll take quite a while to really be comfortable with all of us.

Remus serves the aperitifs. By now most of us have our favourites and I quietly sip my Campari listening to the discussions. Addie turns to the twins and starts to play with them. 

**Lily**

I'm watching the children. Addie already plays with them quite nicely, but she hardly laughs or does more than smile. This poor child has no idea what fun is. Then I hear Remus and Sirius talk about their planned visit to the Hogsmeade Primary School's headmistress to find a teacher for Addie. That gives me an idea!

"I could teach her..." I offer.

Siri and Remus turn around.

"Would you do that, Lily?" Sirius asks.

"Yes, I would! It would give me something useful to do..."

"That would be wonderful! I'm sure she'd be able to learn a lot from you."

"So - I'll come to Hogwarts and be her teacher then."


	13. A funeral, preparations for the new term

**Wednesday, 28.7.1999 / Sirius**

The morning mail brings an owl from Mrs Wood with Adara's new papers. Remus and I show them to her after breakfast and tell her that she'll be getting a regular Muggle passport based on them as well. We properly report her to the local authorities as a resident of our house and she will get her papers from the police office for alien citizens as well after that. Now we can start watching her learning what 'fun' means. She rarely laughs, but I can see that the amount of her smiles increases from day to day. My little sister is such a cute thing I would never guess she's the daughter of my own parents if not for her striking similarity to myself. I pull out some children's photos of mine and show them to her. We practically look the same! Now I'm quite convinced that my father must have cast that same spell on my mother we used on Miranda. Regulus looked like a mixture between Father and Mother and he had a lot of Mother's more ugly traits. Maybe Father was a bit insane but still better than Mother, who the heck knows? Or he was sane enough to recognise that Mother's looks weren't exactly what you'd want to pass down to a child.

Another part of the letter contains information about the corpses of my parents. According to the crystal identification device my mother died on the 10th January 1991. This corresponds with the time frame Addie has given us. The official death dates of my parents have been adjusted at the Ministry. I'm free to have the bodies exhumed and buried properly in the family burial vault. I disliked my parents, but I certainly will not lower myself on their level and take my grudge as far as letting them rot in their own backyard. I intend to return this old Georgian house to what it probably was when it was built. And that means cleaning it from everything that was the last few generations of the Blacks. Should be hard and there's a lot of Dark Magic to be detected, but if necessary I'll have some Veritaserum forced down Narcissa's throat to find out about the spells used - I'm pretty sure she knows about all of that. She was the only one remaining free after Bellatrix and I had been put to Azkaban, and my parents certainly trusted her.

I apparate to Diagon Alley and check out the family burial vault. It contains urns of almost everyone in the immediate family back at least three or four hundred years. I even find Uncle Alphard here, because they might have disliked him and all but it didn't do to put him anywhere else. There are two spaces free for my parents. Somehow they stare at me with evil eyes, because their supposed to be occupants aren't there. I'll have it in my will that I will NOT want to be buried here! Or better still, start a completely new Black family vault at the Hogsmeade cemetery.

Then I remember that we'll have to make some adjustments to my will. I'll do that once all the Gringotts chaos is cleaned up and I'll have a large part of it set aside in a vault for Addie. She'll be on allowance, I'll not hold her on too short a leash, but I want her to learn to spend money with reason, even if we're still showering her with lots of things right now. But at the moment it's still necessities. 

I go and find the wizard in charge for the cemetery. It's an old coot of a man, rather mad I think, but he seems to be mostly okay. 

"Good day, Mr. Wilson, I'm Sirius Black and I've just been to have a look at my family's burial vault..."

"Sirius Black?" he croaks, "Ah, you're one of THE Blacks then, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. Have you been inside that vault in the past years?"

"No, I haven't. Not for at least twenty years. I can remember the last funeral though, must have been your younger brother, wasn't it? Are your parents still well?"

"That's just it. You should have seen two more funerals since then, my parents have both passed, but not when the Ministry thought they did. They were just dug in the backyard of their house. I knew nothing about that until two days ago. Now I want to have them cremated and buried properly in the family vault, which has their free spaces, including the name plaques, but their urns aren't there of course."

"Now that sounds like a crazy story. We should have that organised within three days, sir, should we say you can have someone exhuming them next Monday and the cremation will take place immediately? Do you want to have this publicised so any remaining friends and family can gather?"

"Next Monday should be perfect, but no, don't make this public. Who knows what kind of dirt this will blow up! Just a quiet burial. I'll inform the people who might be interested. They're not many, believe me."

In fact, they're only myself and my lover, Addie, Andromeda and Ted, and maybe Draco and Tonks. Apart from Draco these are all the 'outcasts' of the family and Draco would certainly be regarded as one, too, by now. 

Everyone at our house already knows about it. But when I return from the Diagon Alley, I have to write a few letters. I start off with Andromeda and Tonks, then Albus gets one and Minerva. I tell them all what's happened and copy that part of the letter to the next. Then I add a few personal lines and tell them about the funeral next Monday. 

A few hours later I get a Commumirror call from Andromeda.

"Sirius! Is that really true or is that one of your ghastly jokes?"

"Hi Andy. I wish it was a joke, believe me! It's more like a nightmare, apart from the fact that Adara is a really wonderful little lady. She's already quite happy here."

"Oh my god! This is just simply awful. As much as I detested your parents, I wouldn't have wished anything like that on them."

"And that reminds me of my question to you, Andy. Do you know of any other relatives we would have to inform about this?" I ask her.

"Well, my mother. She's in the Janus Thickey ward at St. Mungo's though. Got a cell more like. She's pretty insane now. You might know that Dad was killed back before Voldemort was gone for the first time. There are some great-aunts and uncles, but I'd not even tell them or they actually do turn up and sneer."

"Sorry to hear that... I know the guy who killed him. Had to kill him that is, Frank Longbottom. Your darling sister Bellatrix got him back though. He and his wife Alice are probably just two or three doors down from your mother..."

"Well, I didn't exactly cry when Dad died. Not much anyway. And even less when Bella was killed. If anyone deserved it, then it was her. I'm still shaking with anger about what that woman allowed herself to do and find it 'fun'!"

"We're rid of the lot of them. But I thought I can't let my old folks rot in their proper backyard."

"No, you can't and it's wonderful of you to think so. Proves you're a lot better than them. I'll be there Monday afternoon and I'll tell Ted and Nymphadora."

"Thanks, Andy! Oh, and something more: you wouldn't know about the spell they used on a whole array of things at Grimmauld Place? You know, the one on the door for example, which makes sure that only a Black by blood can open the door with his wand?"

"That one I know. But as far as I remember it's not the only one used in there. Look up blood magic. Remus should probably know quite a lot about that stuff..."

"Okay, I'd be glad if you could show it to me one of these days so we can start to undo all of that rubbish. If we can't do that we'd be left with a house that can't be used nor taken down and rebuilt..."

"Narcissa might know more about it, Sirius..."

"She's the last resort though. Besides she's probably completely useless now. She's been at Azkaban for two years already, so she's probably not in a state to give coherent replies."

"True."

"But if need be we'll have her transferred to the Ministry for interrogation. A couple of days out of the Dementors' watch should do the trick. Bella was 'quite' coherent, though not any less mad after she was out of there. Anyway, I'll see you on Monday then."

The Commumirror won't be quiet today, I expect. The next to call is Minerva who's just as shocked as Andy. She's all sympathetic though and asks after Addie.

"How is the child, Sirius?"

"Better than she could have been. It seems he's not mistreated her with any curses or even physical punishment. He's just kept her locked up and filled her head with his pure-blood stuff. We're currently proving him wrong every day. We don't even have to say much about it, she can see it with her own eyes, how much nicer it's to live OUR kind of life. She's already brightened up quite a bit. We'll be up at Hogwarts in the next days, to get a look at where to accommodate her."

"You can have the apartment next to yours as well, we'll certainly be able to connect the two flats. No problem. Will you send her to the primary school at Hogsmeade?" 

"No. She's got to catch up with too much. You'll quickly see that she's got a good mind and she's willing to learn, but she lacks in so many things that are totally clear to every three year old child. She's missed out on reality and doesn't yet fully understand the concept of abstract things. And of course she'd probably be terrified of that many other children. Lily is going to be her tutor."

"Ah! That's a very good solution. Lily may be a ghost, but she certainly will make for a very good tutor."

"Definitely. Addie will get there and she'll be ready to start Hogwarts, but for the moment we shouldn't force her to be around too many other children who could make fun of her lack of knowledge. She doesn't have the means to defend herself against other children's cruel kind of teasing."

"I can see that. I'll see you around soon then."

And finally, Albus comes to see us. He apparates in just as we gather for the aperitif before dinner. Padma spots him first.

"Oh, hello, Professor Dumbledore! How nice to see you!" she calls.

"It's nice to see you again, Miss Patil. I can see you're still quite the gathering here... or have I just dropped into the middle of a party?"

"Hello, Albus!" Remus greets Dumbledore, "no, this is actually regular Sunnegg crowd."

"Oh, how nice! Good evening, Remus. How are you?" 

"Considering I'll have to transform in a few hours well, thank you, Albus. And yourself? Do you enjoy your retirement?"

"Oh, I do! More than I thought I would actually. I've finally been able to tend to my beloved roses. I'm afraid they've been allowed to grow rather wildly these past years. - Where's Sirius?"

"I'm right here, Albus. Good evening! It's nice to see you. Can I offer you an aperitif?"

"Just a gillywater if you have, thank you very much. Your letter was quite the shocker, Sirius!"

"Wasn't it though? I'm still quite shocked myself. May I introduce you to my little sister Adara? Adara, this is Professor Albus Dumbledore, until the end of last term he was the Headmaster of Hogwarts," I say, while I pour the drink and hand it to Albus.

"So he's the man Father hated so much?" Addie asks bluntly.

"Did he now? I never thought he'd be capable of really hating. I'm very pleased to meet you, Miss Black. You remind me of your oldest brother quite a lot. In fact, he looked just a little taller than you do now when he started at Hogwarts."

He shakes Addie's hand and she looks up to him, to find out if he's angry at her slip-up. But the familiar twinkle is there behind his glasses and she looks relieved. I have yet to meet a small child who would not trust Albus Dumbledore. Addie is no exception. She smiles shyly and says:

"I'm sorry, sir, I know Father wasn't a very good person."

"I hear he is dead now, child, so let him rest. Do you feel well here?"

"Oh yes, they're all so kind to me. Kreacher was never kind and my father wasn't either. Sirius has given me all these new things to wear and to play with. I've never played before."

"That's very nice of him, do you not think?" Dumbledore asks.

"I should think that's what belongs to you, Addie. After all you've inherited a good part of that family fortune. - Would you believe that all this started with a letter from Gringotts, Albus?"

I start to tell him about what happened and at the same time invite him to share our dinner. He accepts and I ask Addie:

"Would you tell Dobby and Winky that there's one person more for dinner, Addie?"

"Yes, Sirius!"

She runs off and we watch her vanish in the kitchen. 

"I have no idea how it happened, Albus, but she's a good kid. She remained to be a good kid even with all the brainwashing my father seems to have tried on her. You have no idea what I felt when I noticed he hadn't died but a few months ago. And when Blaise led me up to see Addie! I wanted to exhume him and kill him all over! And I'll have Kreacher's blood for all of that."

"While I can understand your feelings, would you really have a house-elf killed for following orders?"

"He'll not change and I can't send him away. I want to clean that house if I can, Albus and there's really no space for him there anymore. I can't have him interfere with everything anymore. That leaves only handing him over to Diggory's department."

"Amos will ask for a very good reason before he'll have him executed, Sirius."

"Three or four of Kreacher's standard lines will do it, Albus, believe me! Only the fact that Kreacher is a house-elf and bound to the house and the family prevented that he killed for Voldemort. Azkaban won't do it either, because Dementors don't affect house-elves."

"Yes, that's true. How sad."

"I know. I don't like to do it, but it will have to be. Do you know that his innermost wish is to be beheaded and hung up on the wall of the staircase at Grimmauld Place with all the heads of other house-elves who were treated that way? Well, he'll get his wish to be beheaded, but I won't tell him he'll get nowhere near that wall! And then no new house-elves will go into that house before the walls aren't cleansed from that awful stuff. I'll not force that dreadful place on anyone, let alone a house-elf who has to stay there for most of the time."

"I'm quite amazed that you can see past things and give your parents a proper funeral, Sirius. Amazed and impressed. - Are you still working on your autobiography?"

"Yes, though it's been going slow so far. We have a ton of notes already, but nothing really written down yet. Still going through our Hogwarts memories, too. We'll have a lot to do to write this all down. My years at Azkaban will be done fairly quickly after all that went on before and after. Twelve years lived in hell handled in one short, but most probably terrible chapter."

"I can imagine that it can't have offered much change."

"No, it didn't. Which is why I'll go through it with only some small bits. But revisiting some of those memories will still be important. For my own healing."

"You seem to be well on the way, Sirius. You have handled this shock very well, I'd say."

"Seeing as I gained a cute little sister who's probably more like an adopted daughter now... yes, I have."

I smile while I'm watching Dobby zooming into the room and setting the table. Apart from Ron and Justin who can't leave the Auror headquarters until they're out of training we're complete. We bring Albus up to speed about the happenings in the 'family' and then sit down to eat.

**Remus**

Addie sits down next to me and asks about when I have to transform. I look at my watch and reply:

"Only in about three hours, Addie. It's summer and the moon rises late."

"Is this like the sun in winter? Rises late and sets early?"

"It's exactly like that, Addie."

"So you don't need to be a wolf for a long time?" she asks.

"No, I don't."

"Good. I'm a bit afraid, Remus..."

"I'm glad you say that, you have the right to be afraid. You'll see that it's not necessary. If you're still up when I have to transform you'll see that I'm not different than Hermione when she changes."

"Okay."

When it's time I just leave to our bathroom to shed my clothes and transform. I come back to the living room and curl myself into a ball next to Sirius on the couch. I put my snout on his lap and feel his hand on my body immediately. 

"Feeling okay, love?" he asks gently.

I nod and bark.

"Good. Let's go to sleep soon."

Addie has stayed up and once she sees how I'm settling down next to Sirius she crouches down in front of the sofa and puts her hand on my head.

"I'm fine now, Remus. Good night!"

And then she presses a little kiss on my nose and proceeds to give Sirius a kiss on his cheeks, too. He smiles at her and says:

"Do you want anyone to come and take you to bed, Addie?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you, Sirius."

He embraces her and pulls her into a hug. She starts to return hugs and then quietly wishes everyone else a good night before vanishing in the kitchen. What a nice girl she is! I'm still baffled that all of the brainwashing of her father's hasn't completely corrupted her. Maybe he wasn't that bad deep down, so the good was actually planted inside of Addie, like it must have been planted inside of Sirius. It may have been lucky for Addie that she hadn't been exposed to all of her relatives. I suppose some of Bellatrix's and Narcissa's ways have been implanted into them by their mother. I've heard the sound of Sirius' mother, I can only imagine the sound of his aunt!

**Saturday, 31.7.1999 / Hermione**

Harry's birthday. He doesn't want parties anymore - hey, we're grown now. I quite understand, but he'll still have his favourite food for dinner. Most of us are around and we might go dancing. Have to enjoy our summer break after all! Not that we don't do some cramming through the days, we need it. We're reading some books that have been recommended and that we didn't have the time to read during the school year. There's a fair number of them, but I have mine done, Harry just needs to read two of them still. 

Lily is working with Addie on some basic maths now. Morag and I have been to the bookshops yesterday to find some basic stuff in many different subjects and Sirius has written to Madam Reeves asking her for the school books that are used at her primary school. Addie needs to catch up on four years of school! I agree with Sirius that she best does that alone with a tutor and Lily will do great! Addie already adores her. She's astonishingly open to everything, but then I do think she has Sirius' superb mind. We strongly suspect that the Blacks must have used the spell Sirius and Remus used on Miranda for their oldest and youngest child. Sirius showed us some pictures of his brother and that one looked mostly like his mother and had his mother's personality on top of that according to Sirius. I dared to remark that in that case maybe his father wasn't the worst person, but Sirius cuts it off and tells me he actually was worse than his mother:

"Totally unreadable he was. You could never predict what would come. He was capable of a lot of cruelty, believe me, I've felt it, not only from her, but from him, too. He's cursed me with Cruciatus. That was the thing that made me leave finally. I wasn't going home after fifth year, but they insisted. I was lucky they locked me inside of my room with my trunk and all and forgot to confiscate my wand. We had been in the restricted section looking up the spell to make a Portkey just a few months before, in case something like that should happen. I couldn't escape them, they were both waiting at the station and I had to pass them. So they plucked me. And Regulus told them about Remus and I. That was the first round of cursing, by my mother, then two days later my father wanted to force me to join the Death Eaters. I said no and he cursed me. Then I was locked in to think about it, but I made a Portkey out of my alarm-clock, took my trunk and landed on the Potters' doorstep. Gave Mrs Potter the shock of her life. After that I've never seen that place again until now."

If anyone deserves to have some peace it's Sirius! What he's been through in his life is actually too much for one man. But that he's managed to pull himself out of all of this just proves the power within him. 

We spend the day mostly outside. I'm sitting on a deckchair under a sunshade. Sirius and Remus take the children to the public bath over lunch and then to the Lueg for ice cream. When they come back shortly before dinner, Sirius tells us that they've arranged for a dinner at the Lueg for the next Saturday. He's inviting the whole gang there. We all check that we have nothing going on, but it's okay, so we'll drive up there for a lovely dinner. The Lueg has a first class kitchen, so the food should be great. 

I ask Sirius if he wants us to come and attend the funeral of his parents.

"Only if you really want to, Hermione. It's not going to be too pleasant. We have the remains cremated and it's going to be a very short affair. My cousin and her family will be there and Remus and I. We'd prefer if you could look after the children in the meantime."

"Okay, Sirius, we'll gladly do that. Will you take Addie along?"

"I'll ask her on Monday morning, if she wants to, then yes, otherwise she'll stay here, too."

The dinner is nice, we have candlelight and afterwards Harry has a few gifts to open. Some of the people go out to dance, but I'm too tired, so Harry and I stay at home and go back to our room for a bit of necking. I'm glad for a quiet evening. The baby has started to move and I can feel it quite well now. Even Harry can feel it from the outside and my belly has swollen quite a bit already.

"I love to see you right now, Hermione, you're so beautiful!"

"Not that I feel like that at the moment, love, it's so good that you tell me that! I really appreciate it." 

I've had my share of mood swings, but they've not been too bad. I'm moved more easily right now and when I'm underway somewhere I observe myself looking after practically every pram I see. It gets a bit more uncomfortable to sleep now, but I'm lying on my sides and often use Harry to pull up one of my knees and lay it on his legs. Otherwise the pregnancy doesn't cause me too many problems. Apparating is getting a bit more troublesome, I have to concentrate more, but according to the healer I can do it until the last month before the birth. That means that I'll have to stay at home from on November. But since Harry records every lecture I'll have them in written. Keeping up to date shouldn't be a problem. 

**Monday, 2.8.1999 / Sirius**

At breakfast we explain to Addie what's going to happen today and ask her:

"Do you want to come with us or do you prefer to stay here, love?"

"Can I stay here, Sirius?"

"Of course you can. It's not going to be something nice, but I have to be there."

She stays back with Lily and James. Remus and I apparate to London and wait for the Ministry people to come and exhume the two bodies. We're watching from rather far as the two corpses are dug out. My mother is almost completely disintegrated already, but she's still put into a coffin. My father's body is only starting to decay. I'm very relieved once both coffins are closed and magicked away to the cemetery, where we meet up with Andy, Ted and Tonks. 

"Hello Sirius!" Andy greets me.

We embrace and she says:

"Unpleasant business, eh?"

"You could say so. Watching the remains of my parents being dug out of our backyard wasn't a nice experience."

Both coffins are handed to a magical fire that reduces them to ashes within minutes. The ashes are then filled into two urns and carried to the family burial vault. 

"Isn't it strange that all those years none of the family has ever been down here, Sirius? No one said anything, so I suppose no one has ever been here or they would have noticed the absence of their urns! There's still some extended family left after all. And some of them are as stuck-up as these two were..." Andy muses.

"I've been wondering, too. But I've never heard anything."

Someone must have whispered something though, because three of those relatives turn up all of a sudden, looking very pissed. I throw a last glance at the two newly placed urns and shove everyone out. 

"At least you could have the decency not to make such a racket inside the vault!" I acidly remark to my great-aunt Shaula and her two sons Aldebaran and Deneb. "It's not my fault that my parents decided to hide from the world and stage their deaths. I couldn't leave them 'buried' in their backyard now could I?"

"You could have informed us at least!" Great-aunt Shaula hisses.

"Oh yes? What would you have gained? It's not like you noticed anything amiss. And you never cared what went on in that house as it seems! You know that you'll not inherit anything anyway. You can come and get the tapestry and the bloody portraits if you want, and I certainly won't mind to part with the bloody family silver, so go ahead and empty the house of that trash. The only two rooms I have sealed are the library and the study. All else is yours if you want it, because after all it's what you're interested in, not those two urns."

"How dare you? YOU left the family and gave up everything when you were just a brat!"

"I'm still the direct heir of my father, sorry, great-aunt, they never disinherited me, they just loathed me. Thus I'm the head of the house of the Blacks. Had Regulus lived I would have expected to be officially disinherited, but nothing like that happened. When I was locked up in Azkaban they started trying to make a new heir. I've found the product of their attempts. She's almost ten years old now and has been locked into that house for all of her life! And you never even noticed anything of all of that! If I didn't inherit the family fortune, Adara would. As it is the two of us will share and after us it's my children and her possible future children. You won't even see one Knut. But the rest is for you all to take... I won't miss anything, believe me."

"You have to take regard of our rights!" Deneb cries.

"Oh, I have to? I'm afraid that our relation isn't close enough for that, Deneb. It's settled anyway, Father left no will and hasn't written out any kind of legacy to anyone, so it goes to my sister and I and you know that this is in the family statutes. As I've said you're all welcome to clear the house of anything you want outside of the library and the study."

"I thought you were on Dumbledore's side? What do you want with the books there? It's all about subjects that you wouldn't touch," Aldebaran mocks.

"Which is why I won't let them out of the house unless it's to lock them up at the Ministry or destroy them. Don't even try to get in, the two rooms have been sealed off by Remus and not even Voldemort was able to take down HIS wards..." I spit.

And that seems to be the end of the discussion, the three of them disapparate and I suppose they will try to get into Grimmauld Place, which leaves me cold, since Remus has already made sure to lock the study and the library. We're by far not done looking through all those things in there and I'll not have anyone out of that bunch pick up anything there.

When Remus and I arrive at Grimmauld Place a bit later we can hear great-aunt Shaula storming through the house and looking for valuables. Most of it we've already placed in the Gringotts vaults. If she finds further stuff she can have it. We've left all the stuff that was obviously charmed in some ways. Where we have been unable to take the charms or curses away we've left the things in their boxes and in the master bedroom. 

As a final goodbye my great-aunt has the wonderful idea to threaten me to contest my custody of Adara. I can't but laugh.

"You're already almost decaying, you old hag, you don't expect to get custody of a small girl? Besides she has a choice and I'd say that the chances are less than nil that she'd choose you as her guardian. Don't even try, you won't get anything. And you'll have to pay for any trials you lose, too."

"We'll see to that!" she screeches.

"Why would you want custody of Adara, anyway? Discovered your love for children, have you? As if you'd even have an idea of the concept. Forget it! The judge would ask Adara and Addie would say Sirius and Remus faster than you can say the most ancient and bla bla bla... did you take the bloody tapestry down? You can also gladly take the portrait of my charming mother, I'm sure she'd feel better at your place than here."

"Let's go, Mother, he's obviously not going to move an inch..." Deneb tells her, he's the meeker of the two sons and he knows she hasn't any chance of getting past me. 

"Listen to your son, great-aunt, he's sensible enough! I've given you the chance to take what you want, so now get out!"

They do get the hint and disapparate. Remus has been quiet through the whole thing, but I'm glad for that. It's not been very nice and I sure didn't need it, but there's nothing I can do about them. I suppose she'll try to sue me for a part of the inheritance, but the Black statutes clearly say that if there is no will, the inheritance is shared by the remaining children of the deceased head of the house and only if there are none it would fall back on the remaining remote relatives. I suppose this was made to keep the family possessions in the direct line. So she'll run against a very thick wall. Let her spend her money on such trials I have nothing to fear. 

**Tuesday, 3.8.1999 / Remus**

After that awful day yesterday we concentrate again on the next school year. We still have to go back to Grimmauld Place and have it cleaned, but Sirius intends to have it done by hired staff. We'll only have to go through the library and the study. Once the house is cleared of everything Black we might have it redone and sell it. If the blood spells can be removed that is. 

A Portkey takes the five of us to Hogwarts. I have some work to do and send the booklists to the returning students. Minerva welcomes us back home and we introduce Addie.

"Hello, Minerva! This is Adara Black. She's turning ten in December. Addie, this is Professor McGonagall, she's the headmistress of Hogwarts."

"Hello, Adara, I'm pleased to meet you! So you're going to stay with Sirius and Remus here?"

"Yes, ma'am. May I?"

Minerva smiles and strokes Addie over the head.

"Of course, Adara. We've already done something to the flat next to yours, Remus, there's now a wall less and we've left only the middle part of the living room wall with the fireplaces. The rest is open, so that you now have a huge living room. Come and see!"

Addie looks at the Entrance Hall, which is so huge that more than half of Grimmauld Place would fit inside. She sees the marble staircase, which we pass, then we follow Minerva through the long corridor to the south western part of the castle, where our flat is. It's actually the middle of the castle and our flat goes out on an inner courtyard. At the end of the corridor on the other side is the large teacher's lounge which has access to the teacher's garden. First we have to pass the tapestry and then give the password to the wall.

"Many things here at Hogwarts are locked with passwords, Adara, so keep the one for this entry. Sirius and Remus will tell you when it changes. We change it about every two weeks. It's to grant the teachers privacy, you see. At the moment it's 'giant squid'. It will remain that until the students return at the beginning of September. Do you want to tell the wall?"

"Alright. - Giant squid!" Addie calls and the wall vanishes.

Addie grins. She goes right through it, followed by Minerva. We carry the twins through and the wall comes back after a few seconds. We go along the corridor until we get to our flat. 

"Here we are, Adara."

Sirius opens the door, after giving it the password. When we enter we find that the space in the living room has been doubled. Where the wall to the next flat was we now see two graceful wide arches on both sides of the fireplace. 

"Well, here we are. I've copied the floor over to the other side. The bedrooms are yours to do now. We've renovated the bath and took out the kitchen part, since you don't need that, I suppose. And put the bookcases you had on the living room wall next to the fireplace over there instead."

"Thanks for all that, Minerva, that's most generous of you," I say.

"You're welcome. We did have to do something about it for your newest addition to the family, didn't we? I hope you will like it here, Adara."

"I will, ma'am."

"Why don't we sit down for a cup of tea?" I offer.

We put everything down, including the twins and resize our baggage. We've brought quite an array of clothes and things for Addie. Sirius takes her to the new part of our flat and asks her, which room she'd like. The three bedrooms all go out to the courtyard. 

"Take the big one, Addie!" Sirius tells her.

I summon one of the house-elves and ask her to bring some tea for us. The twins happily crawl through the now so much bigger area and looking after them, Minerva asks me:

"Lily is going to tutor Adara, Sirius told me?"

"Yes. It's clear we can't do it ourselves, and we also need someone to look after her when we're in class. Lily will be perfect. She'll also have an eye on the twins. We didn't have the least hesitation to entrust her with the children, even though she's a ghost. She can pick up the twins no problem and Addie already adores her."

"That's good! If Adara turns out like Sirius, I expect she'll be a handful!"

We both laugh. Yes, I expect once she's comfortable with other children she might become a handful. She should be accepted well, too. 

"I think, she will, and to be honest - I hope she will. She's got to have some fun after those nine years she's been locked up. She's a very bright child, Minerva, she's a whole lot like Sirius even. James said she's like Sirius was when they went to Hogsmeade Primary."

"Good. Studying alone with Lily she should get to the level of the Hogsmeade Primary students well enough."

"We think so. She should be ready by the time she's coming to Hogwarts. With the birthday in December we'll probably not let her start before September 2001."

Addie comes running back to us just as the house-elf returns with the tea. 

"Remus! Come and look what Siri has done to my room!"

I get up and she's pulling me by the hand all the way back to her new room, where Sirius has been busy making her the furniture she wants and needs. The room is the same size as ours, so there's enough space for a huge four poster and a nice big wardrobe, a few bookcases and a large desk. He's filled her bay window with a nicely upholstered window seat and a tiny round table.

"Now you can do it like Remus, once you have some photos you can place them on the mantel of your own fireplace, Addie!" Sirius says and grins. 

The bed is already made with the sheets, pillows and duvet we've brought from Switzerland. There are lovely light green and gold curtains on the bed. They're of course pulled back and Addie has already started to pile her stuffed animals on the bed. Her two trunks are both open and she starts to spread her belongings into the wardrobe and on the desk, on the sideboard and in the bookcases. Her desk is in front of the window next to the bay window, so she'll get a maximum of light to study. 

"This looks very nice already, Addie! It will be really yours in no time."

"I need to have lived in it for a while, don't I?"

"That's what gives a room personality, Addie, you're perfectly right," Siri confirms and adds: "You've also got your own bathroom here, look!"

Sirius shows Addie the bathroom. She beams. It's quite a big bathroom, too with a large tub, a shower, a big sink and a toilet. There's a couple of cupboards, too and when Addie opens them, they're already fitted with a lot of fluffy white towels. She turns to Sirius:

"Do they have to be white, Sirius?"

He grins and shows her his wand.

"I don't think so, darling, what do you want them to be?"

"Blue. And purple and pink. And green..."

Sirius points his wand and a moment later her towels have rainbow colours. Addie beams and thanks him with a hug, which Sirius returns immediately. It's amazing how she's taken to him. One could think them to be father and daughter, they're so alike. Addie lets go and holds his hand, then she turns to me:

"Did he do a good job, Remus?"

"He certainly did, Addie. But what about the bath? Do you want it all white as it is right now?"

"Can I have it coloured, too?"

"Of course. How about..." 

I think for a moment and then tap a bunch of random tiles to put some animals on them and soon her bath is full of little frolicking animals on her tiles. There are stags, rabbits, foxes, dogs, eagles, owls and squirrels. She looks at them and says:

"I love them, Remus, but now put a wolf there, too, please!"

I add a wolf. Sirius comes forth again and adds a forest, then the ground and the sky on the upper third of the walls. And finally he enchants the ceiling the same way the Great Hall is enchanted, so it shows the sky outside. Addie is floored and asks:

"Do you think I can see my star?"

"I don't think so, Addie, it's best seen in February, but you might not be able to see it without a telescope. Do you know where it is?"

"Yes, it's in the constellation Canis Majoris, just like your star, Sirius, and it's the 19th brightest star in the sky after the sun. Yours is the brightest!"

"Bravo, Addie, that would be a near perfect answer. I'm sure Professor Sinistra would be quite impressed," I commend her.

We return to the living room and on the way Sirius seals the fireplace in the new living room off, so the twins won't stumble in there by accident when we can't see them from the other side. Then we join Minerva and the children again. Lily and James have turned up in the meantime and chat with Minerva.

"Hey! Looks like your flat has somehow grown a few extra rooms!" Lily says with a grin.

"Yeah, it's huge now, isn't it? Go and see Addie's room and then her bath. Her bath mainly, it's a little piece of art!" Sirius replies. 

"Will you show me, Addie?" Lily asks.

Of course, Addie pulls her over to her new room and bath immediately. Minerva looks at us:

"What have you done with it?"

"Let's just say that if she's taking a bath she'll think she's on a lovely clearing in a huge forest..." I say.

"Oh, that sounds really special!"

"It's turned out quite nice, and I think we can be quite proud of it. All started when Remus put a few animated animals on the tiles..." Sirius explains and laughs.

"Why that does sound quite interesting. Would there be a wolf and a dog among them?" she teases.

"I did put a dog or two there, but Addie asked for a wolf, too, so yes, there's a pack of them running around," I admit.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Uncle Alphard coming back to his portrait. He greets us cheerfully, as he usually does:

"It's nice to see you back again! I look forward to watch your delightful children playing around here again!" 

"Hi, Uncle Alphard! There's one more now," Sirius says.

"What! You've made another?"

"Not I. But we FOUND another. You have another niece, Uncle Alphard. My parents staged their deaths. Arcturus was actually still alive until this spring, he only died at the end of April!"

"What? But I thought - wasn't there information about Leda dying in what? 1987 or something, Minerva? And Arcturus just two or so years later..."

"1986. And according to the Ministry sources Arcturus Black died in 1988."

"So they staged their deaths? Why would they do that?"

"To produce another child who would be their heir and take on the bloodline. Probably."

"And did they?"

"Yes, they did. I have a little sister, she's nine years old and will be ten in December. My mother's actual death in 1991 made it impossible for Father to try for another son."

"Oh my!" Uncle Alphard is shocked. "And how did you find that out?"

Sirius tells him about the Gringotts letter and that we went to look through Grimmauld Place.

"Did you know that there was a book in the library that records all births in the family, Uncle Alphard?"

"No, is there?"

"There is. We found out that even Dennis' name has been recorded! Only Dennis of course. I found that rather scary. But it gave us Father's real death date. When we went into the house we found Kreacher still there. And while searching through it we stumbled over Adara. - Ah, there she's back!"

"Addie, come over here once, we'd like you to meet someone," I call Addie.

She comes over, curious, and we show her the portrait.

"Addie, this is our Uncle Alphard. He was our Father's next younger brother. - Uncle Alphard, this is Adara. It's just barely a week, but we all love her already. Father had her locked into a small flat at Grimmauld Place since she was born!"

"Hello, Adara, I'm most pleased to meet you! I'm sure Sirius and Remus will look well after you. They're two very fine lads!"

"Hello, Uncle Alphard. Father never mentioned you, only Uncle Rigel..."

"That would be Arcturus. We weren't on the best of terms, you know. They probably scorched me from the family tapestry..." Alphard remarks.

"...which I intend to remove from that wall altogether and if I have to scorch the whole thing!" Sirius says with a growl.

"Sounds like a jolly good idea... I think I'll have something to gossip to Phineas... wonder how he'll react!"

"Don't forget to tell us about it," Siri says.

"Oh, I bet he won't believe me and then you'll have to put up with him coming here to see with his own eyes..."

"No problem, we can deal with him, I guess."

"Well, as entertaining as this all is, I'm afraid, I have a little something left to do," Minerva says and gets up.

"I'll come up tomorrow for the preparation of the schedules, Minerva, is that okay?" I ask.

"Yes, Remus, that's just fine. The puzzle is going to be a bit different, with five teachers more on board, but it's certainly going to be easier... I've asked around for preferences in terms of workdays, we'll go through those notes to determine who gets off on which days."

I quite look forward to this and accompany her to the door. I suspect that dear Minerva doesn't want to miss out on the conversation between Uncle Alphard and Phineas Nigellus. 

We spend the rest of the afternoon playing with the children, then Addie gets a first chance to use the bath. The twins get a bath, too, which they enjoy greatly. They're both quite 'waterproof' already and love to sit in the bath and play. Of course there's that little distraction called washing. They don't mind that so much, but we also have to wash their hair and that's a whole other thing! Both of them scream as if we were using Cruciatus on them. We aren't fazed by that screaming anymore, the whole procedure is so short that they can't be traumatised. To console them we let them splash around in the bath for a while after the washing is over. They're fun to watch. The tub is nice and big, but of course we don't put much water inside. They are sitting in the shallow water and play around with some soft plastic animals. There are some little tubs, too, but those are only interesting when one of us is in the bath with them and they can watch it. They're not ready to move water from one little tub into another one yet. Both children still have their typical baby belly and sit in the water only with their amber necklaces, their legs spread out and their feet pushed together. 

Ten minutes later I prepare the first towel. Siri holds it and I pick up Seraina. There's protest of course, but Siri wraps the towel around her and says:

"Sorry, my little Marauder, but now's the time to finish, so we can get you dressed in your pyjamas and eat dinner."

The next towel is ready on the thick bathroom carpet. I lift Denny out of the water and wrap him up.

"There's my little bundle! Let's get you dressed again, love!" I coo.

Denny giggles. He's quite ticklish and when we arrive in his room and I put him on the changing cushion he's laughing like mad, because of course I have to tickle his sides until he squeals and squirms in the towel. We both laugh and he cries:

"Papa, no mowe!"

"Alright, I stop now!"

To get his nappies on is taking me half a minute, then I pull an undershirt over his head, followed by a pair of socks and the pyjama overall and close the zipper on the front. Then I add a pair of baby sweatpants and a jumper.

"There you are. Leaves us with your slippers."

The flat here is warmed nicely by the fires burning in the fireplaces, but the floor is rather cold in spite of the thick wall to wall carpets and added rugs everywhere, so we insist that our children get used to wear warm socks and slippers throughout the year. While we have a couple of bay windows it's not the sunniest flat, we need a lot of extra light in here, because the sun doesn't reach the place for much of the day, even in summer. 

I take Denny back to the living room. We will eat at the Great Hall during the break, so Sirius checks, that Addie is dressed again. She's allowed to wear her pyjamas and some sweatpants and a jumper over it, because it's cold enough in the castle. Sirius brushes her hair. Parvati has cut it to an even length and now it's a shiny mass of black tresses, very much like Sirius', only it's even softer. 

We arrive at the Great Hall a few minutes later. Apart from Minerva and Hagrid only Filius, Edith and Carla are there. The other teachers haven't arrived yet or are still on vacation. 

All of the ones who are present are curious about Addie of course and welcome her to Hogwarts. Filius starts to chat with her, telling her a lot of stories about Hogwarts. I'm watching him with great amusement, while he gives her a long speech about the castle. Addie's eyes are as big as saucers while she listens to them. Looks like those two get along very well.

**Wednesday, 4.8.1999 / Remus**

I'm up fairly early, only to find that Addie has been up as well. She tells me that Winky has made some breakfast for her. 

"Good morning, Addie. That's good. I'm just having mine quickly, then I'll have some work to do."

"Can I come along?" she asks.

"That might be a bit boring, dear!" I warn.

"I can always come back if it is, no?"

"That you can do."

Winky brings my breakfast as well and I check the mail, which has come in. There isn't much, just the Daily Prophet, which I look through quickly. There's a letter from the Werewolf Registry. Those always make me a bit queasy, but this time it's an information about some of the newly changed laws that actually make things better for werewolves instead of worse. I leave it on the table for Sirius to see when he comes in for breakfast. I also leave a little note that I'm up at either Minerva's or our office. 

"Okay, dear, let's go!"

Addie follows me out of the flat and through the corridor, out through the wall and then the tapestry. I ask her:

"Do you still remember the passwords, Addie?"

"Yes, the wall is Giant Squid and the flat is Seven Up."

"Very good. Remember those, please. When they change we'll tell you. For security reasons you're not allowed to write them down. So - now this is the marble staircase which leads up to most of the classrooms, to the Gryffindor tower and the Ravenclaw wing. Down this door is the way to the Slytherin dungeons and on the other side it's to the Hufflepuff quarters. Which way you will have to remember will be the Sorting Hat's decision."

"Sirius said one can give the hat wishes..."

"You can. But the hat only grants it if you fit. It's better to think where you don't wish to go."

"So the hat's still taking the decision?"

"Exactly. Sirius thought at the hat to get it over with and shove him into Slytherin already. But the hat didn't agree he belonged there. Harry thought at it not to put him in Slytherin and the hat told him he'd do well there and would find lots of support, but he didn't want to, so the hat put him into Gryffindor."

"And you?"

"I was terrified that the hat could find out and put me into Slytherin, because I was a Dark Creature. And the hat quickly responded that I wouldn't last a week in that house and sorted me into Gryffindor because I needed friends it said. But it took quite a while for that decision, too, because it kept thinking that Ravenclaw would be the best house for me."

"Did it tell you why it still put you into Gryffindor?"

"Yes. It found too much mischief in my head."

She laughs at that while we walk up the marble staircase. Up on the fifth floor I open up the door to my office and show her inside.

"I'm sorry, but I can't give you the password to our office, Addie. If you want to find us in here you'll just have to knock. Now - I need my clipboard and quill..."

While I gather what I'll need to meet up with Minerva, Addie looks around the office and the pictures on the mantelpiece. 

"This is a nice room, Remus!" she comments.

"Yes, I think so, too. Sirius and I wanted to share so we used this old classroom. Sirius needs sun and light a lot, you know."

"Why?"

"Because he had so little of it when he was a child and later in Azkaban. Let's go, I've got to go up to Professor McGonagall's office now to work out the schedules for the new school year."

Addie hops off a chair and follows me out to the corridor. We have to walk back down a lot of the stairs and then along another corridor.

"It's so huge here! Don't you ever get lost?"

"Most first years do once or twice, Addie, but there's always a ghost or someone else to show you the way back, all you need to do is ask for help. - Here we are. This gargoyle watches over the door that leads up to the headmistress' office. Cadogan's pony!" I tell the gargoyle, who jumps aside. Addie takes my hand as we move to the rolling staircase and are carried upstairs. Some of the portraits on the wall casually greet us.

"Where is this office? This looks like it never ends..." Addie remarks squinting up.

"It's on top of a tower. One of the highest towers of the castle, though a tiny one."

When we reach the top I go straight to the oak door, which Minerva opens before I can even knock. We go inside and wish her a good morning.

"Good morning, you two. Social call or are you ready to work, Remus?"

"Ready to work. Addie wanted to come along."

I look around. I miss Fawkes on his perch, but of course Albus has taken the phoenix back to his house with him. Minerva notices my glance and smiles.

"Yes, I miss Fawkes, too! He sometimes turns up to come and say hello now. Well then, let's start at the table over there. I've made a table for every teacher, which makes it easier to plan than the classes. Then we can just put together the schedules for the classes from the teachers' schedules."

"Sounds logical to me..."

Phineas looks out of his portrait. I can see him staring at Addie. Then he points at her and asks in his usual blunt ways:

"Is that Sirius' little sister?"

"Well spotted, Phineas. She's his spitting image, so you'll forgive me for not handing out any points for your observance though..." I say with sarcasm dripping.

Addie snickers. Then she asks the portrait:

"I'm Adara Black. And who are you?"

"Your great-great-great-grandfather, brat. Phineas Nigellus."

"Oh. Pleased to meet you then. Why is there a portrait of you here?"

"He's once been a Hogwarts headmaster, Addie, all of them have a portrait here, see, even Albus Dumbledore is here already," I say and point out the latest portrait of a smiling Albus, who's eyes twinkle like their real counterparts.

"Good morning, Miss Black," Albus says.

"Good morning, Professor. I hope you are well."

"Yes, I am quite well, thank you very much. I think, I will be off to Cornwall quickly to send Fawkes for a quick visit, I am sure you would be pleased to meet him."

With that, Albus vanishes from his frame and only returns half an hour later. 

Minerva and I sit down at the table. For each teacher there's a large parchment. She's got her collected notes ready.

"Here, let's sort out the people and check the days they want off. I decided it would be easier to give you whole days instead of just hours during the day. Filius and Edith have seniority and both of them would like Fridays off. You and Sirius are next in line and therefore I can give you the Mondays off. That leads to the new ones who have two lessons more than you per week, which makes 20. That still allows them to have a whole day off. Six of them, that's good, we can give Annis and Kate on Tuesday, Clancy and Waldo on Wednesday, Neville and Penelope on Thursday off. - That reminds me, you don't know Annis Limbury yet, she'll be taking over Potions for the fifth through seventh years. She was a Gryffindor, class of 1968, so you probably don't know her."

"No, I don't, but she'll probably be here soon, won't she?"

"Yes. In fact I've told them to inform us when they'll join us here, most of them have taken a few weeks off to have a vacation before they start here, Annis will come next week to start organising her stocks."

"Good. So that's for the full days off. We can start from there."

We fill in Filius' chart first. Looking at it I'm smiling, because it shows quickly how much more free time we'll have to use for the grading and lesson preparing. In Filius' case it's the whole of Friday off as well as Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. Monday he only has one lesson in the afternoon. Then we move on to Edith's. Only two lessons per week and class, except for the advanced classes for sixth and seventh years. Sirius and I are off on Monday the whole day, which extends our weekend nicely to three and a half days. I could kiss Minerva, as she sees that we don't have any classes on Friday afternoon. I've also got some free space on Wednesday afternoon, Sirius the same. This will be used for my deputy headmaster duties mostly. Thursday I get only two lessons in the morning, two in the afternoon, then I have some more time for correspondence and stuff. I don't have any lessons past half past three. Quite an easy schedule I find. The last core subject we have to cover is Potions. Annis Limbury gets off quite nicely, too, her day off is Tuesday, no lessons on Wednesday, and she gets Thursday and Friday afternoons off, too. Now we move on to the core subjects for the first through fourth years, starting with Waldo Hawkridge, then Clancy Malvern, Neville, Kate Calverleigh and Penny Clearwater. Then we move on to the electives, which are a bit more work, since we have to weave them between the other classes and still manage to get a fair schedule for the teachers. Claire's Astronomy classes are only for the first and second years and take place at night, there are advanced classes for the fifth years with two lessons during the day and one at night. Most of the third years have Care of Magical Creatures as electives, so these are kept as stand-alone lessons. All those students who have chosen not to do this have a study period. Divination and Arithmancy is about half and half and luckily none of this year's third years have chosen the two subjects, therefore it can be divided and backed at the same time. Most students who have chosen Arithmancy have also chosen Ancient Runes. Muggle Studies has been chosen by only about a third of the students. Therefore we decide that Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes will also be stand-alone lessons and the students not taking it will have study periods. 

Addie is cuddled into an armchair reading a book while we're working on the schedule. I'm amazed at how fast we advance with it and by lunchtime the teacher's part is done. All we have to do is to put together the students' schedules now. 

"I'll do that in the afternoon, Minerva. It's only copying anyway, so it should be done very quickly."

"Good. I need you to collect the book lists from the new teachers, Remus, so we can send out the letters for the returning students. Here are the suggestions for the new fifth year prefects, you need to order the badges from Dervish & Banges, they're making them. We usually get them done within two days. Can you do this right away? Then we need to organise the first team meeting before the term starts, that will be a bit longer, as we've got a few points to clear with the new staff members and discuss changes we might implement. Basically I intend to go on the way Albus has stopped. You'll have to prepare the list of first years for the sorting."

I'm taking notes for everything I have to do. It's quite an impressive list, but Minerva smiles:

"Give it a few years and you won't need my reminders of what you have to do, Remus. You'll do it without thinking. Oh, and looking over those schedules I see that all of Wednesday afternoon is free for all, so we'll hold the team meetings every two weeks on Wednesday afternoon, please add that to the teachers' schedules."

"Will do!"

"Good. Let's go down to lunch."

We call Addie and walk down to the Great Hall for lunch. In the afternoon I'm busy writing out the schedules for the classes. I prepare one for every student according to their electives. Then I start on the book lists, for which I gather everything that's already known and then write letters to the new teachers to ask what they want to use as text books. I know Kate's, as we've decided on the books already. 

I'm feeling quite accomplished by the time dinner comes along. It's still almost four weeks until the start of term and most of what I need to prepare is done already. I have to prepare the lessons still, but of course I'm going along with most of what I've already taught, so I have it quite easy there.

At dinner there's the flutter of wings and Fawkes comes to land on the back of Addie's chair. Everyone smiles at the phoenix.

"Hello Fawkes!" I greet the bird.

Addie stares at the phoenix. She tilts her head and when Fawkes hops on the table she asks:

"Is that the phoenix?"

"Yes, Addie. His name is Fawkes and he's very fond of being caressed," Filius tells her.

She starts to pet Fawkes who trills one of his lovely melodies. She smiles.

"He's beautiful! And friendly!"

"That's a typical phoenix trait, Addie," Sirius explains, "but only if the phoenix thinks you worth its time! They have an innate knowledge about the character of people and will only come to people they deem worthy."

"What's their criterion?"

"Your heart! You have a good heart and the phoenix will come to you. Almost all children can be sure of a phoenix's sympathy," I tell her.

**Ginny**

I'm awoken by the ringing of my Commumirror. Sleepily I crawl over Ernie to get my wand and summon the Commumirror to reply. It's Mum.

"Ginny! Angelina has gone into labour an hour ago. If you want to welcome the baby with us you'd better come to Witch Maternity Ward!"

I'm awake in moments flat! 

"Oh, that's nice! I'll be there in a while, Mum!"

I look on the watch. It's close to nine. Ernie is just waking up and I tell him I'll be at Witch Maternity Ward until the baby is there.

"Do I have to come along, love?" he asks.

"Only if you want to get a peek at the baby, Ernie," I reply with a grin.

"I'm sure I'll get to meet the little one later on, Gin, if you don't mind I'm staying here."

"I'm sure no one will be offended, Ernie! See you later."

I take a leap to the shower and then get dressed and tell those in the house who are up already. I apparate directly to Witch Maternity Ward and ask about Angelina. 

"Second floor, room six, Miss," I'm told and head up the stairs. 

Witch Maternity Ward is a friendly building in Diagon Alley, with about twenty rooms and it's the standard place where wizarding children in Britain are born, unless the mothers decide to have their babies at home. Hermione plans to come here as well. I find the room soon, which consists of a waiting area and a closed off delivery room. Second floor contains eight such rooms and then there are two more floors with rooms for the new mothers and their babies. They usually stay on for two or three days after the birth, mostly to have a chance to rest, be waited on and get used to the baby. Half of the family is already in attendance, Mum and Dad, Angelina's parents, whom I haven't met yet, George, Bill and two of Angelina's siblings. Alicia is there as well, as far as I know she'll be the baby's godmother. 

"Hi Ginny!" they all greet me and George points with his thumb to the other room.

"They're both in there..."

Several hours later Ron and Justin turn up and another hour later, shortly before six in the evening Fred finally emerges from the delivery room, beaming and calls:

"We have a daughter! Come and see her!"

One by one we file into the delivery room where Angelina sits propped up against the mattress, which is in an upright position. She has the baby on her arm and looks exhausted, but happy. She beams no less than Fred in any case.

"Here, dears, meet Carolyn Alicia Weasley," Fred says in a soft voice that I haven't ever heard from him yet. 

She's cute! Angelina is black, so the baby in her arms now has a skin colour that looks like milk chocolate and she has brown eyes like mine. Her head is covered with dark brown hair. Mum and Dad are the first to get to hold her and they pass her on to Angelina's parents. All of us congratulate the new parents as quietly as we can.

"I'm so happy it's over. It wasn't quite as bad as I feared, but still... there was a point where I wanted to kill or at least hex Fred for having done that to me and somehow I conveniently forgot that I wanted it myself. But he's forgiven me already."

Fred just smiles. I'm quite sure that this small girl is going to wrap him around her little finger in no time. 

"I'm just as happy it's over. But it was the most impressive thing I've ever seen in my life and I find her simply amazing!"

Mum is all teary of course. Carolyn is her first grandchild after all, so I guess she's entitled to be. I'm allowed to hold the baby for a while as well. Alicia passes her on to me. 

"Gods, she's so tiny! I've already forgotten how small Denny and Seraina were last year! I hope you have as much fun with her as I have with Denny, Alicia! It's great to have a godchild."

"I intend to spoil her rotten! Baby-sit her whenever they let me and so on..."

"That's good! Exactly what she needs."

Angelina's older brother takes a ton of pictures and after an hour I decide to leave. Angelina really looks like she needs some rest now. Apparating home I'm thinking that I'll be back in that building in only four months when Harry and Hermione will become parents. Heavens, there's so many of us, this is going to be one hell of a family once everyone starts producing offspring! Hogwarts beware! Gryffindor tower is going to explode in a decade or so.

That thought makes me smile. Draco and Parvati are preparing their wedding at the beginning of next month. They've decided to rent a ship again, but this time it will be the lake of Geneva instead of the one at Thun. That lake is about twice the size and has tons of mountains on its southern banks and tons of vineyards on the northern shore. That's going to be a very nice party.

When I get home I pass the news on to everyone and there's a great 'Yahoo for Fred and Angelina!!!' from everyone around. I'm quite sure that someone has already informed Remus and Sirius, too. They're at Hogwarts today and probably until Friday, when they come back, so we can all go together to our party on the Lueg on Saturday. 

**Thursday, 5.8.1999 / Hermione**

Harry and I are busy today. First we'll go and see Angelina and little Carolyn in the Witch Maternity Ward, then move on for the monthly check-up and then we'll go and shop for a ton of furniture to put in the Stöckli. We're moving in there as soon as it's fully furnished. We can buy the stuff, have it shrunk and resize it at the places we want the stuff. I just love my magic!

Angelina is still tired, but happy and the baby is absolutely cute! She's not your typical Weasley, since there's not a bit of red hair around, but it would have been a miracle given that Angelina is black and that this usually pushes through. But it's a lovely baby. She's even got a few freckles on her nose! I start to question Angelina about the birth and nursing.

"I can only tell you how it was for me, Hermione, which doesn't mean it will have to be the same for you! She's been due, not overdue, but due and she's quite big..."

"She looks tiny to me, Angelina, but then we had the twins as an example and they were naturally a bit smaller. Yet they're already a year old now and I think it's gone from the memory so quickly how they really looked at the beginning."

"Well, she weighs just above seven pounds. That's a pretty lot, considered you've got to push that out of your body, Hermione!"

"Oh yes, I can imagine."

"When are you due?" Angelina asks.

"Date has been determined as the tenth of December."

"That's not too far away anymore, eh?"

"No. More than half the way through. How did Fred manage while you were pregnant?"

"Quite well actually. As exuberant as always, but he's hugged me lots and I really loved it when he pressed his ears on my belly and caressed me. How do you do, Harry?"

"Probably similar to Fred. Minus the exuberance... I'm trying to be different than my Dad. Everyone tells us he was a bundle of nerves and drove everyone mad. He says it's so not true, but I think I believe the majority and that would be Mum, Sirius and Remus."

Angelina laughs. 

"I'm so happy for you to have your parents back, Harry, even if they are ghosts. It must make one hell of a difference..."

"It does! They're fun to be with."

While we chat about our lives I'm getting to hold Carolyn, who's really a lovely little lady and I long for the day when I meet my own child. Like Sirius and Remus Harry and I have decided not to know the gender before the birth. We're also still discussing names, too. 

"I think it was a very nice move of you and Fred to give her Alicia's name as her middle name, Angelina," I remark.

"Alicia was pretty smug about it; it was a surprise for her. We didn't know her gender either, so we just decided that either the godfather's or the godmother's name would make for the middle name."

"Good thinking. That helps bonding, too. George is her godfather, no?"

"That was one easy guess, Hermione! Yes."

After an hour we have to go and see the healer to check our baby's progress and health. A few spells take care of that, the results are entered in my file and we're dismissed for another month. We walk through Diagon Alley to Gringotts to raid our vaults for money for the furniture and then we go through the three or so shops that sell furniture. I'm forever amazed at the old-fashioned styles wizards prefer. Of course I don't mind the four poster beds, they are cosy and warm, but wash basins and water jugs for the bedroom? We'll have a nice modern bath, thank you very much. I also think we'll get the living room furniture at a more modern, though Muggle shop. But we get the dining room, the nursery and the guest room furniture as well as the study from the wizarding shops. Of course we'll still do a lot of our studying over at the library, but it's good to have a room to deposit things. 

The Stöckli has the traditional large kitchen with a sufficiently large dining area, which goes through from one end of the house to the other. Then it has two rooms next to the kitchen, they look out to the garden side of the property, in the same direction as the main farmhouse. They also have the whole front windows, while the kitchen only has one on each of the sides of the house and two small ones to the north side next to a back door. The main door enters from the side opposite of the farmhouse and it leads directly into the kitchen. At the far end of the kitchen is the staircase up to the upper floor, where there are three rooms and a bathroom and another staircase to the top floor where there is one large room. We'll use that one as our bedroom. For the beginning we'll have the baby up there with us, so the nursery will be set up there until our child will be old enough to sleep in their own room one floor down. The rooms are quite nicely sized. There is a basement with four cellar rooms, which can be reached over a staircase outside next to the back door. The rooms on the first and second floor are about one metre hanging over the kitchen at the back. This makes for a porch with a cemented floor and some supporting pillars along the width of the house.

We set up the study in the back room on the ground floor and the living room right next to it. Dobby and Winky only used the kitchen and one of the rooms on the second floor. They'll keep that room of course. Though Winky is at Hogwarts most of the time, Dobby doesn't feel overloaded with work. He grins, snaps his fingers and the job he needs to do is usually done. 

We also have to organise the day-care for our baby. There's a day-care at Diagon Alley, which will suit our needs very well, I'll be able to pop in from the Academy for the nursing at all times. So the baby has been announced to go there from on mid-January. 

I'm doing a lot of 'listening' inside - sitting and caressing my belly and the baby. It's moving quite actively right now, but then there's enough space left still. Sometimes Harry sits down with me to take over and then we're not even talking much, just sitting arm in arm. I suppose this is a bit like the quiet before the storm, when we'll have to be on our feet all day and half the night for the little one. And I'm also aware that this is the one chance when we can be so still and quiet together, a next baby will have an older sibling and we won't be able to enjoy this concentration. Makes it twice as special. Sirius told me he totally missed this - they had to keep their distance to Miranda after all. 

**Saturday, 7.8.1999 / Harry**

Shortly before noon we get ready to drive up to the Lueg. We pack friends and family into the cars and off we go. The drive takes about half an hour through a lush green area. Hills covered with pastures or forests mark most of the Emmental. There's no flat bits here. The Lueg is on one of those hills. The weather is excellent. 

We are guided into a closed off part of the restaurant, where we all take our seats. Sirius and Remus get high chairs for the twins. Addie sits opposite of them between Ginny and myself. 

The food and company are excellent. It's been a nice idea of Siri and Remus to have a family meal like this. I get to hear about Addie's adventures at Hogwarts. She seems to like the castle and after a couple of days there she's getting the hang of finding her way.

"Remus says that I can't roam the castle during the school year, but then I'll be more busy with studying anyway. I'll also have to eat at the flat with the twins," she tells me.

"I can see his point, Addie. All the other children get to see Hogwarts for the first time when they arrive for their first year. You'll already know all this, so the surprise is kind of gone..."

"Yes, but I don't mind. I have to wait another TWO years, can you believe it! But your Mum says I have to catch up with a lot of stuff and I'll need the time to learn things."

"You'll do well. You've already started, haven't you?"

"Yes. But not the whole day. They think I'm allowed to have a bit of a vacation, too."

"Aren't they kind?" I ask with a grin.

We study the menus and choose our food. Ginny and I help Addie to find something. It takes a while until the first course is served and we use it to chat. Addie feels more and more comfortable around us, she smiles much more often and slowly but surely the smiles lead to a laugh. She's learned what laughing means with the first tickling war she's ever fought yesterday afternoon. Ron and Justin have come home and were in a bit of a silly mood. They started fooling around with the twins and Addie got drawn in somehow and then they tickled her until she couldn't stand it anymore. In the end she declared that she HATED Ron and Justin. 

But I don't think it's so. The two only need to turn up and the twins start to grin and smile at them. I suppose Addie will give in to their charm as well. Ron is looking forward to his second godchild. He treats Hermione like a queen right now, I've never seen him so courteous before. 

**Sirius**

I look across the table and watch Addie talking with Harry and Ginny. She's getting warmer with everyone. She's a child and like all children she's curious and wants to learn new things. 

"Addie is getting better, I think, what do you say, Moony?" I ask my mate.

"Yes, I think so, too. She'll take a while to adjust fully, but with those among us she's seen a few times already she does feel at ease."

"I so wish for her to get happy. It still breaks my heart what she's gone through without realising it. I fear the day when she does. I just hope it's before her puberty is striking full force! Or way after..."

"That's probably in vain, love. We'd better prepare a few good answers beforehand. It's a big thing to realise that her father has stolen most of her childhood for such a stupid cause."

I sigh. Then I turn back to Denny, who sits on my other side and see that he gets a few bites to eat. Remus takes care of Seraina and in between helping the twins we get a few bites in as well. 

**Ron**

It's a really lovely day today and this is a nice way to spend it. After the lengthy meal we change outside, where we enjoy a lovely walk for about an hour before returning to the cars and driving back home. It's Justin's and my last weekend of classroom Auror training. From on Monday we're working with a team of experienced Aurors. I've been attached to John Hill and Margaret White. They've both been on the job for several decades of years. I'm to accompany them on their shifts, so I've received a list of shifts for the next month. Justin has a different plan, but we've still worked out lots of opportunities to be together. We don't have to stay at the Auror Headquarters anymore and clear our room for the new students of this year. Justin has been teamed with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Dean Crosby. 

This will mark quite a change in our lives. This is the real thing now, not the simulations anymore and I'll finally see what it's all about. 

The really good thing is that when we have both a later shift, Justin and I will be able to sleep in. We don't say no that! The job pays quite well, too. 

**Monday, 9.8.1999 / Remus**

I return to Hogwarts alone today. Sirius has nothing to do, but I have to prepare the letters for the returning students. I've received all the booklists now and have the letter done by the automatic device, which also addresses the envelopes, then there's the booklists to be written out and copied and added. The prefects have been chosen, the badges go into the letters. Eight students in the sixth year have an extra letter from Sirius with the offer for the Animagus course he plans to give for anyone interested. Once the letters are out I can prepare the staff meeting. It will take place on the Monday before the start of term by which time all teachers are required to arrive at the school at the latest. 

At lunch I'm meeting the teachers who have already arrived over the weekend, Hjalmar Nilsson and Kate Calverleigh. I have the teacher's schedules for Filius, Edith and Carla already with me. We've just sat down at the table when the door opens and Penny, Neville, Sybill and Waldo Hawkridge enter. Minerva welcomes them and they find space at the table. 

"Are you all alone here? Where's your delightful family?" Hjalmar asks.

"I'm quite alone right now, yes, Sirius didn't have anything to do here, so we saved ourselves apparating the children back and forth. They're with him in Switzerland."

"I see. When's the staff meeting again? I'll be away again for a week in a few days..."

"On the 23rd."

"Oh, fine, by then I'll be back for sure. I'll get to see some interesting bits of runes in Heidelberg, where they've been found in an old wizard's cellar. He must have been about 180! In any case he was all alone, only three weeks after he had died did actually someone find him. Two months ago. Someone found those runes and I have been given the chance to see them firsthand."

"That sounds interesting. Do you have an idea what it's about?"

"Only that it's about some sagas. You know the area there is full of them!"

Neville has already received his rooms and his office. I approach Penny and Waldo Hawkridge after lunch:

"Hi, Penny! Hello, Professor Hawkridge! I'm Remus Lupin, Defence professor and Deputy Headmaster. I'm to show you to your new quarters if you'd like to follow me..."

"Hi, Remus! Very nice. Do I have an office already, too?" Penny asks.

"Pleased to meet you, Professor Lupin. I've heard quite a lot about you already..." Hawkridge says.

"Call me Remus, please. We're not overly formal among the staff."

"I'm Waldo! Thank you, Remus."

"Well, if you'd like to follow me I'll show you the way."

I accompany the two of them to the hidden entrance to the staff quarters and guide them through our long corridor. 

"That password will change on September 1st. This here is my and Sirius' flat. I don't know if you've heard already, Penny, but we've received a third child to our family..."

"You have? Wow, so suddenly?"

"Remember when Sirius told you he'd have to work through his parent's house? We did and found that his father had only died last spring. And his mother had lived five years longer than she had officially. The Blacks staged their deaths to try and produce another Black heir."

"And did they succeed?"

"Indeed. Only the child was a girl and when she was a year old her mother died, thus no more Black heir... Arcturus Black had imprisoned his daughter inside the house for all of her life and when we went to clear up we found little Adara Black, nine years old, the spitting image of her brother Sirius and the sweetest child you could imagine."

She stares at me, unable to say anything. For at least two minutes. I grin. She swallows and says:

"Wow. Now there's a shock!"

"We're currently getting used to each other, but she's a very nice child. Lily is taking over tutoring her as she has large gaps of basic knowledge and is not used to people, so we will not send her to the primary school and have her home schooled until she comes to Hogwarts. By which time her social skills should have been honed as well as her knowledge holes filled."

"Dear me, that's quite a story."

"Do I understand that right that you and Sirius Black are sharing your flat?" Waldo asks.

"Yes. We're lovers. We have two children of our own, twins who share their birth mother, they're fifteen months old. Which is why we have our flat down here, that's always been the family part of the teacher's quarters. In the past fifty years there were no families around, but with you young people, who knows who of you will move down here as well?" 

"I'm definitely not in a hurry!" Waldo protests.

"Anyway, if you're in the mood, just come knocking on our door here and we'll share a cup of tea or coffee or a drink and chat. Now - here's the teacher's lounge. Sirius and I are rather rare guests here, because of our babies. But it's a very nice place as you can see. You have access to the large garden which is reserved for the teachers. Unless one of us lets the secret out how to get here there won't be any students here. And believe me, when I was a student we got to as good as every nook and hidden corner of this castle, but we never managed to get in here."

Penny laughs.

"Why does that not surprise me after what Sirius has told me?"

"Because he's told you, of course. Filch still trembles when he hears someone talking about the Marauders. And he's warned, because we call our twins 'little Marauders'."

"Yes, I noticed."

"Well, you have to pass through here to reach the staircase to the two teacher's floors above here. The former Potions Master, Severus Snape, preferred to have his rooms down in the dungeons, Waldo. You're welcome to have a look at them, if you are someone who prefers to delve down there, too..."

"No thanks! I didn't mind Slytherin, but I do prefer some light! The classroom has been moved by Professor Black, hasn't it?"

"Yes, that's right, but since it's next to mine he wants to keep the room and change it to the Transfigurations classroom. We'll get you a nice room for sure. We have about thirty rooms that can be used as classrooms in this castle currently not in use."

"There will be a suitable one then. I'm not worried about that, but I also prefer to teach above ground..."

"I can quite understand that."

"I heard that Professor Snape brewed your wolfsbane potion, Remus, sorry if I sound blunt, but do you need me to do that for you, too?" Waldo asks.

"No, Waldo, I have my sources. Sirius mostly makes mine these days and sometimes I get it from two of our former students. So I have back-ups as well. In case this was going to be an offer I thank you anyway."

"I'm relieved, because I don't know if I'd have been able to brew it, to be honest."

"I know it's difficult. That's why I can't make it myself. I've been sufficiently good at the theory in Potions, but when I had to work with all those ingredients my nose would usually make me go bonkers."

"Well, you wouldn't either touch silver nor wolfsbane, would you?"

"There's gloves for that, which would do quite well, but basically, no, I wouldn't of course."

We're climbing up a spiral staircase until we reach the second floor.

"On the first floor we have most of the teachers who have been here for longer. You will get rooms, freshly renovated and ready for you to do with them as you please, up here on the second floor. Ladies first, so Penny, this one is yours!"

"Thanks. Does it work with a password?"

"Yes. It's set for you to choose one. All you need to do is to supply the covering portrait with your name, your staff number, and say 'the new password is...' - only you can set it."

"Ah, fine. I'll do that right now."

"We leave you to it then. Waldo, your room is a bit further down the corridor. Well, rooms, really, because you have a bedroom, a bathroom and a living room as well as a tiny kitchenette kind of thing. The fireplace is big enough so you can brew potions, just in case you need to. Here it is... same thing as I told Penny goes for your room, too! - I leave you to it. If you need any help or information, just call on me, I'll be here most of the days until the new term starts. You've seen my office already, it's the same as Professor Black's."

"On the fifth floor, isn't it? I'll find it if I need to, thanks. Do I contact you for the classroom?"

"Yes. And for the furnishing, call on Sirius, he's prepared the one you saw for your test lessons."

"I thought it was brilliant! No wonder he changes to Transfiguration, if that's been transfigured then he's done a marvellous job!"

"That's exactly what he did!"

I spend the remainder of the day setting up the new passwords for the four houses, inspecting them all after that to check that the passwords work. The parchslip is added to the list of the first years. After that I'm leaving Hogwarts and return home.


	14. Cleaning up Grimmauld Place, staff meeting

**Monday, 9.8.1999 / Sirius**

While Remus does his Deputy Headmaster job at Hogwarts I 'accept' some help from Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Ernie, Blaise and Padma to go through Grimmauld Place once more. The first of many more times I'm afraid. The gang's help will be really great help! 

When we get there I call Diggory on the Commumirror and he sends someone to take care of Kreacher. I've already spoken to him and he told me not to worry, he'd take care of it. So within an hour after our arrival someone from Diggory's department arrives to take Kreacher away. I'm told that I have to actually release Kreacher by giving him some clothes. I do this and they vanish with the old house-elf. I'm really sorry, but I don't see any other way. 

"Not nice..." Hermione says and sniffles.

"No. Not nice, you're right. Just no other way or he'd go and talk too much. Now I suggest we start by trying to get rid of all of these awful portraits."

To my surprise we can't take them down though! They're attached to the wall with a sticking charm and one that we apparently can't undo. I conjure up something rather crude and definitely Muggle, a crowbar and a hammer and we try it that way. It's too much fun to hear my mother screech and scream, the crowbar does the trick perfectly well and we all laugh ourselves silly!

"Hey, Mum, you thought you were so superior, but a simple Muggle crowbar unsticks you from that wall!" I shout and laugh when the life-size portrait comes off the wall and falls to the ground. We take it to the backyard and I tell Mother:

"That's all of you now, Mother! We'll burn this awful portrait on the spot. A new era of the Blacks has been started and I won't have my son and daughter enter this house to see all the old rubbish ever!"

"You're not going to burn me! You're NOT!"

She screams, but I point my wand and while she screams I call:

"Incendio!"

And then I watch as the flames take care of what was left of my mother! Inside I'm burning, because I remember well, that as a child I never wished for anything as much as a real mother, one who would not be cold, cruel and distant, one who would hold and cuddle me, sooth my tears and laugh. I won't miss this one. She had given birth to me, but that was it. For a few short years I had Remus' Mum Fanny, who was exactly what I had always wished to have and she treated me like a second son. How bitter the day when Fanny and Quintus Lupin were murdered by Death Eaters! The only solace I have to this day is that they never had to see Remus suffer after I had been cast off to Azkaban.

The screams have ended. Did she really feel that? It was probably just programmed into this portrait to scream. I head back inside and from now on we treat everything on the wall with the crowbar and take things down. Everything is burned outside and by the evening the hall and staircase are cleared of all the rubbish. It's completely empty now. 

"Okay. Tomorrow the drawing room..." I say. 

We return to the Sunnegg and all of us vanish to take a good long shower or bath. Remus is back from Hogwarts. Lily and James have looked over the little ones. At dinner I look at Hermione who doesn't look too well.

"Stay home tomorrow, Hermione, and rather look after the children! We get along," I tell her.

"Yes, I think, that was a bit too much. I do have to keep calm for a bit. Thanks, Sirius!"

"No need to thank me, I have to thank you, sweetie! You've all been a great help. The hall of Grimmauld Place has been emptied of all the trash! My ancestors can all go to bloody hell now!"

Remus grins.

"Such language, Siri!"

"Couldn't care less, love, it's been almost like a nightmare! We couldn't take those portraits down, so finally I got a crowbar and we used raw human strength and did it the Muggle way! And look there, it worked. Would have been my father's death to know that a simple Muggle instrument would take care of something no wizard could remove!" 

The memory makes us all laugh again.

"It was priceless, Remus! We just took off all those portraits and heads of the beheaded house-elves!"

"And Kreacher?" Remus asks.

"Was picked up by Diggory's people," I say curtly.

"Ah. I see."

"Anyway, tomorrow we tackle the drawing room. That blasted tapestry must come down next."

"That might be more difficult, it doesn't have a frame..." Remus remarks.

"Yes, we'll have to find out how to do it, or we have to burn it out. These walls will have to be cleaned and painted anyway."

"True."

**Tuesday, 10.8.1999 / Blaise**

Fairly early in the morning we reach Grimmauld Place again. Lily and James are with us today and look around with curiosity. 

"I've never set one foot in this house before, but even the empty hall looks dreary, Sirius," James says.

"Well, you've never missed anything, Prongs! This is not a friendly place," Sirius says.

"No, it doesn't look like one. So - where do you want to get on with the work?"

"The drawing room right here next door. At least we don't need to tiptoe around my mother's blasted portrait anymore, we can talk and be noisy all we want now."

We step into the drawing room. It's just a bit dusty. Sirius guides us to one wall which is decorated with a huge tapestry containing the Black family tree. Sirius points to the bottom of it and stares, then he says:

"My mother has burned my name out of it when I left, but look! The line down and Denny's name is on it!"

Indeed there is Denny's name right on the bottom of the tree. I look for Tonks and find her as well.

"There's Tonks!" Padma says.

"And Andy has been burned out of it as well! Blasted people! But now let's see if the crowbar helps on this thing as well. I try to loosen a corner and you guys hold it if it comes away and pull while I keep loosening the fabric from the wall, okay?"

"Okay," we confirm.

Sirius gets the crowbar and starts going under the fabric. Harry steps up and holds the loose little bit. It takes a while, but with Sirius loosening and Harry, myself and Ernie pulling the fabric comes off bit by bit. In the end we just roll it up and throw it on the ashes of yesterday's trash to burn it with all the other stuff that will follow it. There's a lot of old furniture in the house and no one will be interested in it, because there's nothing nice or even elegant about the heavy things. Everything looks centuries old, but it's not of a style that would be nice to keep as antiques. We open up all the drawers and take everything out in the middle of the room. Then the cupboards and bookcases get shrunk and thrown on the trash pile. There are several folders with papers which Sirius puts into a large crate in the hall. We add to that with everything other than old magazines or newspapers. We also find several photo albums and Sirius puts them away, for documentary reasons more than sentimental ones. Photos in frames are added to that pile as well. We reach the last sideboard and empty it. Now everything in the room is reduced to matchbox size and we put the stuff into another crate to take it out to the backyard, where it's burned together with the tapestry. In the end Sirius points his wand at the little mound of ash that remains and calmly says:

"Scourgify."

Inside the house we find a few nests of doxies and other pests, but we've soon taken care of those. 

"Okay, now the library and the study we keep until last. You've already looked through the master bedroom, I think, we continue with all the bedrooms upstairs now..."

We all move upstairs, Sirius levitates the crate with the papers and photo albums and places it in the upstairs hall. This floor contains the master bedroom and the hidden flat, a huge bathroom and the library.

"I wonder about that little flat. I mean, there are the rooms here and then the rooms there, it must have been magicked in there somehow..." I say.

"Yes, I was thinking about that as well. Let's start with the main rooms first," Sirius orders.

Padma and I take care of one of the guestrooms. We look through the cupboards, but only find some linen. Padma leaves to ask what to do with that. She comes back and says:

"Take the stuff out and pile it on the floor outside of the room, Sirius will think about it."

"Good."

That's what we do, then we reduce the furniture, which is as ugly as the stuff all around the house and add it to the trash crate in the hall outside. Harry brings some stuff from another room, as do Ginny and Ernie. James and Lily are with Sirius it seems. 

**James**

Lily and I follow Sirius into the master bedroom. It looks like someone has gone through it before and searched it.

"My great-aunt has been here with her two sons last Monday. I told her to take everything that she fancies. We'd already picked up all the important stuff, meaning the Gringotts keys and some jewellery. She must have found a few valuables still, because she didn't complain anymore. We reduce the whole caboodle and throw it on the trash pile..."

"With pleasure, dear Mr. Padfoot!"

We start shrinking the whole furniture until nothing remains except for a small pile of stuff, which we add to the crate outside. There is only a mirror left. Sirius calls for Padma.

"Do you remember the password, Padma?"

"Yes, it was Toujours Pur."

Sirius rolls his eyes.

"Gods, how obvious could he get? - It's the blasted family motto, Padma! Anyone could have guessed it..."

"That's why he chose it, Sirius, it's too obvious," Padma states.

"Right. Didn't think of that."

We go inside and try to find where the magical flat starts. After half a metre we've already found the point. Sirius tries a simple: 

"Finite Incantatem!"

And we find ourselves pushed back and in front of an unblemished wall! 

"Wow... wouldn't have expected it to work, really!" Sirius grins.

"Neither did I! But it worked and Blaise and you were right, it was magical."

"It's gone anyway. And the room is empty, too. Next one..."

We move to the next floor, where there are eight bedrooms. Regulus' room we take down completely without looking at anything in there. The wardrobe still hangs full of his clothes. Then something happens and Sirius stiffens and starts to scream! Lily and I really have no idea what it could be, so we call for Harry and he comes running, while Sirius falls to the floor, out of it. 

"Shit! Is that a Boggart or a Dementor?" Harry shouts.

"Oh! Probably a Boggart, Harry, it doesn't show for us!"

"Ah! Okay, step back a little, it becomes a Dementor for me, too!"

Harry lifts his wand and points it at the source of his discomfort, calling:

"Riddikkulus!"

The Boggart turns back to Sirius and Harry gets in front of it again to repeat the process. I apparate to the lower floor and call the rest of the gang:

"We have a slight problem with a Boggart upstairs, can you come and help?"

They all come up the stairs and face the Boggart in turns until it's so confused that it explodes. Ginny's is a handsome young man with black hair and blue eyes. She casts the spell and the young man is completely naked and sings into a microphone, blushes and tries to cover his privates. I look at her a bit astonished. What's scary in that young man? She calmly explains:

"It's sixteen years old Tom Riddle, James. When I was in my first year he got into my head through an enchanted diary, into which I wrote. I got the thing from Lucius Malfoy. Only knew that later on though..."

"Oh! The Chamber of Secrets thing, now I remember."

"Yes, that."

"Sorry, I was a real prat for stirring up such memories..."

Ginny gives me a smile and replies:

"Don't worry, I have to face them now and then to remember it's all in the past."

Now we have finally time to care for Sirius. He's coming around, slowly, but once he's conscious again he starts to cry. I haven't seen Padfoot cry often, but I know how badly he's affected by Dementors, even Boggart induced Dementors. Harry sits down and pulls Sirius into a hug. Lily asks Harry:

"What did you do against your Boggart Dementor, Harry?"

"Oh, I always imagine them tripping over their cloaks and ripping them off... during the Triwizard Tournament I had to face one and at first I thought it was a real one, so I cast the Patronus, but then the 'Dementor' didn't vanish, instead it tripped over its cloak, so that gave me the idea how to make it look ridiculous. Works every time."

"Could have told me that, Harry!" Sirius sniffles.

"Are you feeling better, Padfoot?"

"Not much. But I will..."

Sirius transforms and Padfoot lies down on the rug and closes his eyes for a nap. Harry pats his back and strokes over the silky fur. 

"Let's continue with the remaining bedrooms and then go home, I think, we have quite enough for today," he suggests. 

We leave Sirius for the moment and finish the bedrooms on this floor, then take everything out to burn it. Coming back into the house it looks very empty. Most of the rooms have been cleared now. All that's left is the dining room, the kitchen in the basement, the attic, the library and the study. The rest has been done. We wake Padfoot. He looks around, transforms and gets up.

"Sorry about that! I think, I should have known that one or two of those blighters would turn up. A mostly unused house is an open invitation for Boggarts. The bloody thing nearly gave me a heart failure!"

"Let's go home. You need a nice hot bath and a long night with Moony now. We'll take care of the children meanwhile, alright?" Padma suggests.

"Thanks, Padma. I think, that might just be the remedy!"

We apparate back to the Sunnegg to relieve Hermione. Remus is also back already and after hearing what's happened he gladly leaves us with the little ones to take care of his mate.

**Remus**

What the heck is that? I left Sirius in perfect health this morning and when I come back I find him almost a wreck? Gee! I summon our bathrobes from our bedroom and take him into the bathroom where I fill the tub with very hot water and add essence of lavender to sooth him. Sirius lowers himself into the tub and says:

"Come join me, Moony, I need you!"

I take off my own clothes rapidly and step into the tub, placing myself behind Sirius. He sinks a bit lower and I hold him close to me. Sirius lays his head on my chest and sighs. While I grab and dunk a washrag and start to gently stroke Sirius with it I ask:

"So, what happened at that blasted place? When I left you this morning you were perfectly fine and now..."

"Boggart..." is all he says.

"Dementor?" I ask.

"Spot on..."

"And?"

"And? I passed out! Bloody Dementors still get under my skin every time, even as Boggarts. James was with me, but he couldn't fight what he couldn't see, now could he? The Boggart was mine, and he couldn't get in front of it. Boggarts don't affect ghosts, did you know that? The young ones took care of it in turns I think..."

"Good. It's natural for you that your Boggarts turn to be Dementors, love. Did they think of feeding you some chocolate?"

"None available..."

I summon a bar from the kitchen and see to it that he nibbles some of it. He sighs and I can feel him relaxing a bit. 

"When did it happen?" I inquire.

"About two hours ago. I transformed and slept afterwards..."

"Okay. Now, which do you prefer, a healing dose of children or one of sex?"

"Can I have both?" he asks.

"Yes, love, you can. It's dinnertime soon."

We take our time in the bath, though. I carefully wash his long hair, something he loves and after rinsing it he gets up. I follow him, not without giving his cock a quick caress. 

"Mmm, hold that thought for later, Moony!"

"No problem, Padfoot."

We dry ourselves and get dressed again. Then we join the family for dinner and Sirius calms down considerably. We even take the twins to bed ourselves, in spite of several of their godparents offering.

"No, thanks, not tonight, I think, I need a bit of their happiness and love right now," Sirius thanks them. 

I pick up Seraina and take her up to her room, while Sirius vanishes with Denny. Once Seraina is dressed for the night and her sleeping bag mounted I'm sitting down on the rocking chair with her and we look at a picture book together. She starts to recognise simple forms like cubes, apples, teddy bears and the likes and points at them. Sometimes she can even say the word. Well, close to it anyway. When we're through the book I banish it away and pull her close, rocking on the chair and caressing her back. She sucks on her pacifier and fondles the ribbon around the neck of her teddy bear in her fingers. She's asleep in just a couple of minutes. I stop, get up and gently lay her into her cot. I'm still watching her sleeping, when Sirius comes inside quietly and says:

"Denny is fast asleep."

"So is Seraina."

"Let's fall into our bed, love!"

Not a hard thing to do. I've been quite busy today, assigning Annis' and Kate's rooms and helping them all to settle in. Now I'm tired, but in a very loving mood. We undress quickly, cast our silencing charms and when I turn to the window, to close the curtains I can feel Sirius behind me. The window is wide open, since it's still very warm outside. Sirius embraces me and kisses my shoulder, then my neck, lets his hand run over my spine and starts to fondle my nipples. 

"You've wet my appetite nicely in the bathtub, love," he whispers. 

"That's good. I want you!"

"I want you, too, Moony."

He gives me a little push, so that I can't but hold myself up on the window sill. His hand moves swiftly over my back, giving a little pressure on all the spots he knows I react the quickest. There's one in the small of my back, ooh, that's the one, Padfoot! Pressing on this little nub in my spine undoes me every time! Pleasure shoots through my body and my cock gets really hard now. I take one of my hands away to touch myself, but he puts it right back on the sill. 

"Sirius, anyone who's going out for a walk can see us!" I hiss.

"Don't think they will look up and expect us here."

The hand now moves to the cleft between my buttocks and immediately I spread my legs a bit wider. I swear, I can feel his grin in my back! He never stops caressing me. He's sucking my earlobe now. 

"Nnng! Love it, Paddy, don't stop!"

"It'll only get better, sweetheart!"

Sirius lightly presses his body against mine and I can feel his erection, which makes me shiver with need and want. 

"Want that, love... please..." 

"Please, what? What do you want me to do with it?" he teases.

More kisses on my shoulders and back. Sirius worries my skin with slight bites and starts to suck, probably leaving a nice, big hickey. At least on my back it'll be covered. The hand wiggles to my opening and he starts to sneak a finger inside, swiftly pushing forward. My legs go a bit further apart. 

"Perfect position, dear sweet Moony!" Sirius commends. 

He summons the lube and starts applying it on my opening as well as his cock, then keeps on finger-fucking me for a little while, before finally plunging inside. He gets it all in easily. When he's all inside, he stands still for a few moments, leaning down and kissing my neck again. I turn my face and look at him. Not that I can see him well in this position, but he manages to kiss me on my lips for a moment. Then he slowly starts to push. I breathe in sharply. And lean forward, so that I'm now with my underarms on the edge of the window sill. Luckily the geranium pot on the sill keeps my lower half completely hidden from the outside! But I'm slowly so far away that I'm not caring for anything anymore, I look over my shoulder at what he's doing. Sirius has bowed his head and concentrates on thrusting in a steady rhythm that makes me shudder. I try to control my breathing to last longer, but as soon as he goes back on my cock with his hand I'm feeling my climax build up quickly. I breathe in deeply again. Even with the open window I get the scent of my mate making love to me strongly and I love it. I growl softly and wait for that wonderful moment which never lasts long enough, no matter how hard we try. Sirius doesn't make me wait today, he goes right through until he comes with a low grunt and a cry of my name. I close my eyes as he thrusts another few times until I find my own release. How I love this feeling of him filling me up. 

I lower my head on my arm and slowly my breathing returns to normal and my pulse slows down. I still gasp a few more times. Sirius has slumped down on my back and folds his arms around my waist. 

"You know, we could probably make it to the bed..." I suggest.

"Not sure..." he mumbles.

"Apparating?"

"Think I'd splinch."

I laugh. Then I push myself up from the sill, pushing him back in the process. He shrieks a little, holds tighter and both of us tumble down onto the floor.

"That wasn't very clever, Padfoot, how do we manage to get into bed now?" I chide. 

"As long as you're in my arms I don't really care, Moony."

"But I do, we'll freeze! Come on!"

I can finally free myself from his grip and roll off him to turn around and get up. I go to the bed and look back to Sirius.

"Do I have to summon you, Siri?"

"Jolly good idea, Moony! Anything that spares me getting up myself."

He beams. I laugh, but then I call him:

"Come on, you can't be out of it that badly. I agree it was good, but we've had much more exhausting."

He sighs, but turns around and gets on his knees. Pushing himself up he comes over to the bed and drops down next to me. 

"How do you expect a second round, if you're that exhausted from the first, love?" I tease him.

"I must be getting old! Used to be like that after half a dozen times, remember?"

"Don't think we ever managed that many..."

"Would be nice, wouldn't it?"

I turn to him and kiss him. His hand slowly glides over my arm up to my shoulder and his fingers tangle in my hair, while he pulls me close. I sigh into the kiss and close my eyes. Slowly we build each other up again. Endless kisses, slow hands over his back, his chest and kisses again. The wolf inside revels the assault Sirius starts on my nipples with his teeth. He pushes me back on the bed and starts nibbling my skin. I continue to caress his back and just keep my eyes shut. His lips caress my chest and then he latches on to one of my nipples. 

**Sirius**

Merlin, I love the taste of his flesh! I suck on his nipples, one after the other and catch them between my teeth. When I move from one to the other I look up into his face. He's got his eyes firmly closed and relishes the feelings he gets from my treatment. All of a sudden, the CD-player starts filling the room with piano music by Remus' favourite composer, Claude Debussy. I grin. He's just simply amazing! While I continue to caress him, we listen to the soft sounds of the Suite Bergamasque. Remus' choice of music is a fine one, I have to say. The music is dreamy and the soft sound of even the faster parts feel like the softest touches we administer on each others' skin. I lazily glide over his belly with my hand, down to where his wonderful cock has hardened again. I move closer and give it a few licks. His breathing accelerates again. I pull the foreskin back and give the head a few licks, cleaning it from the remaining seed. I can feel his hands on my back and it gives me goose-bumps. Soon I've swallowed most of his cock and suck. It takes a while, but once the growls start I know he's not far away from his orgasm. 

"Yesss..." he hisses, "come on, Paddy, just a little more, yes! Siri!"

I love to feel him shuddering when he comes. His seed spurts into my mouth in two or three short waves and I swallow it down. I let my head fall on his abdomen, looking at this beautiful organ that gives us so much pleasure. I'm still not over missing this for fourteen long years. I close my eyes and simply relish in the flavour in my mouth and the scent in my nose that is the essence of my lover. Better than any perfume! 

Before I can fall asleep he pulls me up and we find each other for another kiss. Then I summon a washcloth from the bathroom and he cleans my cock, rubbing it nicely in the process. I banish the cloth back and he starts to go down on me, suddenly quite alive and active, while he's kept so quiet before that I was almost afraid he had fallen asleep in the middle of my blow-job!

But now he seems wide awake! Without further circumstances he takes my cock into his mouth and starts going down, sucking and licking it. I tangle my fingers in his hair again. There's a faster piece on the CD again, lots of high sequences that remind me of tiny bells. I close my eyes, fill my senses with what Remus does to my cock and listen to the piano from the speakers. And I almost miss my climax! But only almost. I arch my back and push up, Remus controls me with his thumb, index and middle finger around my cock. 

"Now, love, now! Oh, Remus!"

Slowly he lets go of my cock and turns back up to me. I sit up and pull him up to me, let myself fall back on the bed and feel him following me. It's still early, but we don't fight sleep when it comes.

**Wednesday, 11.8.1999 / Sirius**

Once more I have to go back to Gringotts, but this is to get everything settled now. I'm getting a statement of everything found in all of those vaults. 

"Would you recommend to put all the money in one vault and all the valuables and whatever else is in those vaults in another?" I ask.

"It would certainly be a lot easier to handle, sir."

"Good. I still need several vaults. One hundred thousand Galleons go into two trust vaults in the name of Seraina Lupin and Dennis Black. I will keep the keys to those myself. Half of what's left belongs to my sister Adara. She's only nine years old, so it will have to be another trust vault, which she can only use once she turns 17. My own vault requires two keys, one for myself, one for my life partner, Professor Remus Lupin. Then whatever is not money goes into a third vault, again in my name with a key for myself and Professor Lupin."

"That will be done instantly, sir, would you mind to wait for a few minutes, so we can arrange for the keys to be set up? Do you wish to keep your vault 711?"

"Yes, I won't mind that. If it's spacious enough..."

"Yes, it is. The vaults are fitting themselves according to what's inside."

"Ah. Very convenient."

"I'll be back in a short while."

I really don't have to wait long until he's back with the keys.

"As you can see the keys are labelled. These two are for Professor Lupin, these are yours and this is your sister's. I have set up a trust vault with access for only you at the moment. It's another high security vault, since it contains a rather large sum of money. And finally these are the two other trust vaults."

"That's just fine, Mr. Tookook, exactly what I need."

"You will have access to your new vaults within two days, sir, we'll send you an owl."

"Thank you very much. I'll have to be back to look through all the personal effects in the vaults."

With that I'm apparating back home to the Sunnegg. I spend the afternoon playing with the little ones and Addie in the public bath. We stay there until dinner time when we're joined by Remus, Ginny and Ernie. 

"Had fun?" Remus asks and kisses me.

"Lots of fun. I love the slide!" Addie says and grins.

It's wonderful to see the laughs coming to her now. We've watched the twins walk around and play in the sand pit, took them into the shallow pool and Addie swam alone for a while. When the bath closes at nine we take two sleeping babies and a fairly tired Addie home. On the way Addie falls asleep, too. Remus looks around and watches her. 

"She's happy now, Paddy."

"Yes, Remus, I think so, too. 

**Monday, 16.8.1999 / Sirius**

This is going to be an absolutely awful day. Two Aurors and an official from the DMLE, to my satisfaction it's Jason Taylor, accompany me to a place I really did not want to see again, Azkaban. The new head of the department, Ms McGovern, has assured me, that I would not have to go into an area where any Dementors would be around. Narcissa Malfoy would be brought into an interrogation cell closer to the only entrance of the fortress. 

So now the four of us and Remus sit in the boat over to the island, that was my 'home' for almost twelve years. Precisely those twelve years that I'm trying desperately to leave behind for good. Maybe this isn't so bad, I'll see how much I've healed. Still, it's going to be hard.

The boat is attached to the dock. I don't remember the day I've been brought in, I was unconscious all the way. Now we enter the fortress through a small door. Right behind that are several rooms, the wizard guards inhabit those on their week-long shifts here at the prison. 

One of them leads us to the cell in which Narcissa is held for the interrogation after we've deposited our wands in the care of another guard. We all enter the cell. There's a small table and several chairs. Narcissa looks like she's certainly never looked before! I'm not surprised and at the same time I am surprised at how bad she already looks. I know she has been put into one of the high security cells, but about two floors away from her husband's. Since she has nothing to keep the Dementors away, she's in a bad shape already. Not even the two or three hours away from them will do her much good. She stares at us with dull eyes, sunken deep into their sockets. It's been about two years since her imprisonment and she looks like she's not going to make it for a very long time anymore. But she's still quite lucid. Sane enough to reply to my questions. We have two potions with us, a mind sharpening one and the Veritaserum, which will only be used if she refuses to give us the information we need. 

Two Aurors keep her at their wandpoint. 

"Sirius! So you're the reason they've shoved me in here. What do you want?" 

She looks at me with disdain, just like she's done forever.

"Narcissa, I need something you should probably know. The blood binding spell at Grimmauld Place. What is it?"

"I don't remember!" she says, a bit too fast.

"You don't remember or you don't want to tell us?" I ask.

"I don't remember."

"Take this - it's a mind sharpening potion..." 

"I don't want to!" she protests.

"I'm afraid it's not a question of want or not, Mrs Malfoy, we are allowed to force it down your throat if you refuse to take the potion," Jason informs her.

After a few more threats she takes the potion. While we wait for it to work she asks:

"How is Draco?"

"He's fine, Narcissa. He's getting married next month. He's working on opening a wizarding fun park in France next year."

"He's getting married? Already? Who is the woman he marries?"

"Parvati Patil. They have been together for almost four years already. You should know her parents."

"Ah. Yes, I think, I do."

"Do you remember the spell now?"

"Why do you want it? And why don't you know it yourself?" she wants to know.

"Because I've left the place at sixteen. It's not like I wanted to return there, but I had to clear up the whole mess of the Gringotts accounts. Do you remember when you've been there the last time, Narcissa?"

"Right after Auntie Leda's death. Why?"

"You were there after my mother's death? Only in the lower part of the house or have you actually seen her body?"

"No, I haven't seen her body, but why?"

"Because she didn't die then. They lied to you about her death. She died five years later. My father only died this spring."

"What? But I know very well that I've received the news of his death! Only about a year or two after Auntie Leda's. Come to think of it I was told not to go to Grimmauld Place..."

"Well, that would be because Father wasn't dead yet. They seemed to have withdrawn to quietly produce another heir to the family."

"Oh my!" She's shocked, but says: "Did they succeed?"

"No and yes. They had another child, but it's a girl. Father locked her up in the place and no one knew anything about her. Adara is going to be ten years old in December. What about the spell now?"

"Oh, the spell... as far as I remember it was a short incantation, should be noted down somewhere. Uncle Arcturus told me before I got married."

It takes a while, but in the end we get the incantation. A 'short' incantation, ha ha! It must be about two lines long! Remus notes it down. We'll need a while to figure it out, but I hope we find something in the library books about it and I do hope we'll find a counter-spell. 

"Thank you, Narcissa, you've been a great help."

She watches us leave the cell, again with the two Aurors keeping her at wandpoint. While we collect our own wands we see them guiding her back to her own cell. The robes she wears are thin now. She must be colder than I, because I doubt, those silk robes warm her any. 

We leave the prison behind. Remus looks at me and asks: "How are you?"

"Better than I feared, love. But they really did keep the Dementors away, so it wasn't too bad."

"I'm glad to hear that. You don't look like you've suffered too badly."

"I haven't," I confirm. Then I ask: "She doesn't look like she's going to make it for a long time, does she?"

"No, I don't think she does, but then it might be for her best if she dies sooner rather than later," Remus says.

I nod. It definitely would be merciful. After what seems like only an hour or so we reach the shore again and can apparate back to the Three Broomsticks, where we both have a drink before we return to Hogwarts. 

**Wednesday, 22.8.1999 / Remus**

We're mostly back at Hogwarts now. Sirius has finished cleaning Grimmauld Place, even the study is empty now. All the papers and books, journals and some photo albums in there have been stuffed into crates and into the new vault at Gringotts. We might or might not ever get to look through that. 

The spell has been mentioned in three of the books in the library. Sirius uses the retrieval spell and we're really glad the library here responds to this spell as does the one at Hogwarts. One of the books is even one that I can touch. Thankfully the incantation for the counter-spell is only one word. Sirius first uses it on the door. Then on all the crates containing the books from the study. 

And we do have to go back and check the library. Sirius has already emptied the safe, which contained some more jewellery and a few very questionable artefacts, which we have handed over to a research team at the Department of Mysteries. They will see if there are dangerous enchantments on those things. We've found several snuffbox-like little containers that smell of Dark Magic ten metres against the wind! Then there are several signet rings that were certainly enchanted, too. We also detect a few dangerous looking vials. Sirius calls Snape on the Commumirror, glad that Severus even has one. 

"Severus, if you're interested in some very obscure vials that we've just found at Grimmauld Place, then hop over. There are no apparition wards up at the moment, you can apparate right in, we're in the library."

"Vials? You've found old potions? I'll be there in a moment, Black!"

He does turn up only a few minutes later.

"Where are you?"

"Over here, Severus..." Sirius calls. 

Severus finds us behind a few shelves and we guide him to the safe, where we've found five vials containing unknown substances. 

"No labels, no dates, no nothing. If they have to be destroyed you probably know how to much better than either of us, Severus," Sirius says.

He looks at them.

"This one I think I know. It's an ancient poison... this one here I recognise as well. It's a truth potion, hasn't been brewed in the past one hundred years! Pretty powerful stuff, but doesn't reach Veritaserum. The other three I have to check."

"Take them all. Interested in any of the books here? We're still busy of getting all the Black blood spells off."

"I don't think, I have time to look through this," Severus replies, but I can see that he regrets it.

"Much of it will probably come up to Hogwarts, just the really Dark Magic stuff we want to put into a high security vault at Gringotts until it can be decided what's to happen to them. So it won't be lost," I explain.

As for the books in the library, Sirius has to undo the binding spells that bonded the books to the Black family blood. He uses the unbinding spell on each shelf we encounter. We check them for a few books I can't touch and check again after Sirius has used the spell. Once Sirius has cast the counter-spell, I can touch those books without a problem. They're almost all quite dark and many of them are probably very rare. We make a call at Flourish & Blotts and get to talk to Mr. Blotts, who agrees to come over and look at the material. He picks the very rare ones out of the shelves and some of them we're willing to sell to him. We're holding back the darkest ones though. We're still glad for his information about their value.

What books are there and don't contain Dark Magic we collect for the Hogwarts library. Some of the Dark Magic books can go into the restricted section. We have about ten large boxes full of shrunk books to take back to Hogwarts and another six or so to be put into the vault at Gringotts. That's another trip there, but once everything has been stuffed away we can actually have the house more thoroughly cleaned.

**Thursday, 23.8.1999 / Remus**

We're still exhausted from the hellish day in the library at Grimmauld Place. Sirius and I have delivered the boxes with the books to Irma Pince who is delighted about receiving so many new books.

"Though it will take me weeks to get them sorted and catalogued. It's going to be a very fascinating time though, I'm sure. Some of those books must have been in your family's possession for centuries, Sirius! Are you sure you want to donate them all?"

"Absolutely. We're not sure what to do with the house yet. In the next several days it's going to be cleaned from top to bottom, then renovated thoroughly, and then cleaned once more," Sirius tells her.

At lunch we meet the full teacher's staff for the first time. I introduce Sirius to Annis. She's a few years older than we are and has dabbled in potions ever since then. She's one of now six Gryffindor teachers besides Minerva and I. Then there are five former Hufflepuffs, four Ravenclaws and only two former Slytherins. 

Everyone enjoys the Great Hall while it's still devoid of students. For this first meal together with the rest of the old and new staff we've left Winky and Lily with the children to attend it both. It's a good opportunity to get to know each other and talk freely without having to watch out for eavesdropping students. After lunch, Minerva gets up and says:

"Well, since everyone is already here I would like to suggest to go on to the staff meeting directly. Do any of you need to fetch some things at your quarters?"

Most of us do so we fix it to meet in fifteen minutes. I'm going to the conference room with Minerva. Both of us have readied the room this morning and I have my bits ready on the table. There are a series of documents for each of our colleagues. They start to file into the room shortly afterwards and wait for us to assign them the seats. Minerva has the head of the table, I'm taking my seat at the other end. We've already set up name cards, so they each find their seats soon enough. Once everyone is sitting down, Minerva closes the door and starts the meeting:

"I don't think I need to stand to talk to you. Welcome to our first staff meeting. I have seen that you've all settled in or settled back into your quarters and I hope you feel well in them. If you need anything, all you have to do is talk it over with some of the house-elves or just do it. These rooms are your home here at Hogwarts, therefore it's you who have to fit them to your needs and wants. 

It's not totally new to me to be Headmistress as I have replaced Albus on several occasions. I've been Deputy Headmistress for many years and I know the school nearly as well as Albus did. Therefore I expect no problems in the transition from him to myself. I would like to remind you that everything that concerned me until now is now the responsibility of Professor Remus Lupin. That does not mean that I will be unavailable for anyone but him in any way. He's just in a very good position to decide what problems should be brought before me. 

Since there are five new teachers on board I'd like to make a short roll call and everyone to introduce themselves. I'd also be interested in you to tell me quickly what you expect from me as your new Headmistress if you please. And then you can add the things you'd like to say to Remus as well. Shall we start with the senior staff? Remus, if you'd like to start, please... and when you're through you could toss the Quaffle to the next person of your fancy!"

That's not something she has told me about! Anyway, I sit up and make the start:

"As most of you know my name is Remus Lupin, I've had the honour of being promoted to Deputy Headmaster in June after only two years of teaching here at Hogwarts and three more of teaching a group of students in a safe-house. As a student I was a Gryffindor. Finished school in summer 1978. The subject I teach is Defence Against the Dark Arts, from on this term only the three upper forms. I think, you will find me to be mostly quiet and easygoing. Hogwarts has always been a home for me, I'm very happy to have returned to this home for a good long time a year ago. 

I'm living together with my bondmate Sirius Black and for those of you who don't know it yet we have two children, Dennis Black and Seraina Lupin, who are now sixteen months old and the apples of our eyes. Recently we have taken Sirius' nine years old sister Adara under our care. I think, that's about it for the moment, I hope, we all get time to find out more about each other.

Minerva, I can only say that I've been working alongside you for the past several months and it's been a great learning process and a wonderful time. As for myself I'd like to stress that I'm going to be there for everyone as much as I possibly can."

I look around the table to decide who would go next. 

"Well, let's continue with someone from the new colleagues - how about you, Waldo?"

Waldo looks a bit uncomfortable, but that's pretty normal, he probably thinks this is Gryffindor sentimentality. I grin inwardly when I try to imagine how Snape would react if he'd still be on the teaching staff. Waldo sits up even straighter and introduces himself:

"My name is Waldo Hawkridge, I've finished Hogwarts in 1983, Slytherin. Worked as a pharmacist since shortly after Hogwarts in Oxford. When I'm not working I'm enjoying my garden, mostly working with magical and non-magical roses. I was sought out by the Death Eaters to join them in the recent war with the Dark Lord but decidedly refused to have anything to do with them. I have heard that one of your pupils has been the one we have to thank for our newly gained peace, Remus and Sirius, and I'd like to thank him through you for that.

You will probably not see much of myself, because I intend to use my free time around here to keep up with my garden at home and to study a lot. I'm very proud to have been chosen to join the staff of Hogwarts. 

Headmistress, I don't think, I have an opinion on you as Headmistress yet, but I remember you as our teacher and Deputy Headmistress well enough and I suppose your style will differ from Headmaster Dumbledore but certainly not work less well. As for Remus - I've already been quite impressed at your efficiency, patience and kindness. If that's how it's going to be while working next to you it will be a pleasure.

I suggest the next one to speak is Madam Hooch..."

Minerva thanks Waldo and we all turn to Rolanda, who grins her girlish grin. 

"Well, you know me, either as your former teacher or your colleague. I'm as boisterous as ever, as much as a former Ravenclaw can be, that is. While I loved to study as a student my real passion was always Quidditch and flying. To have been called to join the staff in 1968 by the then Headmaster Armando Dippet was a great honour and an even greater pleasure. Since then I have seen thirty years of students passing through my flying classes and have refereed their Quidditch matches. The greatest fun besides the refereeing is definitely to guide the students with them building up their knowledge and skills in the sport as well as working with their teams. So far if anyone would ask me what I'm working I can always say I'm not working, I'm having fun. And I do intend to continue to have fun for another while.

Minerva - you know, how pleased I was when you told me you were taking over as Headmistress. It's been a long while since the last time we've had a Headmistress instead of a Headmaster and I just wish you all the best. You have always impressed everyone with your strict fairness and while people might think you a tad harsh I'm quite convinced that you will become much more like Albus now that you do not teach anymore. And Remus - you're going to keep up just like Minerva did, my boy. 

That said, I'm passing the Quaffle to one who knew more about Bludgers - Sirius!"

Sirius grins. I grumble something about not being her 'boy' anymore, but she just grins again.

"She's been on the receiving end of one of my Bludgers once, you know! Accidentally of course and I mean it! The name's Sirius Black, my potions and transfigurations skills have brought me back here and like my mate Remus I hope for a good long while and I'll take over Minerva's Transfigurations classes next week. I've been on the Gryffindor Quidditch team for four of my years at school and I left it with a few sentimental tears in 1978 and two won Quidditch cups. The Daily Prophet has been filled with most of my misfortunes so I needn't say anything about them, I suppose. It's still a fairly sore spot though, which I'm trying to work out. I believe I'm on a good way though and with the help of my lover and my children, to which I now count my little sister, and my adopted family I think I'll put it all where it belongs - in the past. You will remember and find me rather fun loving, up for a lot of nonsense and the odd bet, I love Quidditch like your next best wizard and try to see some matches here and there since I'm back in the free world. Our Headmistress has not only graced me with her classes, she's also entrusted her precious Gryffindors to me, so the number of pranks might increase. 

Outside of work and Quidditch my children are my hobby. Some people describe me as 'rash' and not thinking things over, but the quick decision to have our twins was the best rash decision I've ever made and I'll never regret it. As Remus said, they're the apples of our eyes and we both love them to bits. To all of my older colleagues who might not know it yet I'd like to inform you that in a couple of months Hermione Granger-Potter will have her first child and that means there will be a Potter, a Black and a Lupin at Hogwarts at about the same time again in a couple of years. So beware!

Minerva, fear nothing. I'll keep them under control. You won't see them at your office as often as you sent me to Albus'! - What concerns Remus, I can only say that I know he's overly, excessively organised and manages to actually save time with his ways. That said, I know he's going to be as perfect as Minerva in his work."

The others laugh, I blush slightly, Sirius looks around and his glance remains hanging on Hagrid.

"Hagrid, your turn!"

"I'm not one ter speak much, so I'll make it short. Hogwarts Keeper of the Keys and Grounds for fifty years, Care of Magical Creatures teacher for six years, students and colleagues are always welcome for a cup o' tea at my cabin. Love everything that lives except You-Know-Who. Found that most kids 'ere are alrigh'. Professor McGonagall, I think you'll do your job as well as Professor Dumbledore did. Same goes for our Remus, who's one of the best lads I've ever had the pleasure to meet. - Neville, you next?"

"Thank you, Hagrid. My name's Neville Longbottom, I've had the pleasure of enjoying two years of the safe-house Remus mentioned before. He and Sirius were my teachers and both were great. I suppose I'm here thanks to their encouragement. I was a Gryffindor and finished Hogwarts a year ago. Now I'll be honoured to teach my favourite subject Herbology to the first to fourth year students. I expect it to be great fun and I hope to learn even more on the way.

Professor McGonagall, since I don't even have the slightest idea about the administration of a school I certainly won't state any opinion here, because I have none, at least none yet. I trust, you and Remus will do your job well."

"Thank you, Neville, who shall be the next?"

"Professor Nilsson?" Neville asks.

"Gladly, my boy. My name, as you all know by now, is Hjalmar Nilsson, I've been in Ravenclaw in my school days, of which I shall rather not tell you how long they are in the past! Come to think of it, it might be better to tell you that I've finished Hogwarts in 1902 and that was two years before my esteemed colleague and housemate Filius Flitwick! Telling you my age might gain me at least your respect for being an old fart. I teach Ancient Runes and from the number of new students I'm getting every year I can see that it is still quite a popular subject. Which of you has recently commented that I'm probably as old as my subject or even older? Very naughty! 

I have taught here for the past seventy years. I have had the pleasure of working alongside the Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick for all of these seventy years. Hogwarts is still a delightful place for me and a stable home. To be around the young ones has kept me alive through some really dark times and I'm thankful for them.

Minerva and Remus, I think that you will make as good a team as Albus and Minerva did, simply because you fit together as a working team perfectly. I have no doubt you will do well.

May I pass the Quaffle, which I handled as a Chaser on the Ravenclaw team in my school days and as a captain of that team over to another fairly good Chaser, Carla Vector!"

"Got it, Hjalmar. - I'm teaching Arithmancy. The opinion of most students about my subject are usually divided squarely in half. One half thinks it's heaven, one half thinks it's hell. Those who know it's hell for them before third year avoid it like the plague and usually find themselves in the North Tower for Divination. Those who don't know it's going to be hell can often be brought around or they are suffering until they can switch the elective. But generally I get interested students who know it's a useful subject. I've been in Slytherin and have recently been made the head of Slytherin house. 

Minerva, as much as I like Albus, I do believe that you will be a lot easier to read and to predict! You were wonderful to work with as Deputy Headmistress and I expect nothing less from our new Deputy. I'd like to pass the Quaffle to Clancy Malvern!"

"Since I'm one of the new ones I remember most of you as my teachers. I was a Hufflepuff, finished school in 1987 and left it to study Charms at Avalon Academy. Spent three years there and entered the Ministry in the Department of Experimental Charms where I've been working for the past almost nine years. I've invented and fully worked out a couple of new spells and I'd like to remark that I'm green with envy of one of your students, Professor Lupin, since I'd have given my wand hand for the invention of her Commumirrors! But I'm probably not alone saying that."

"I've heard it a couple of times, thank you. Hermione Granger-Potter certainly is an exceptional student, anyone in here who ever taught her will probably confirm that."

"Anyway, I'll start teaching Charms to the little ones in a week and I can't wait to see if I'll really do well. Professor McGonagall, if you're as efficient as Headmistress as you were in your function as the Deputy, then I think we have nothing to fear. I might suggest that you could ask the question again in a year? Professor Lupin, I've learned to know you as a very well organised and helpful person, I expect we should be getting along very well. Who will get that Quaffle now? Annis?"

"Okay. I'm Annis Limbury, during my time at Hogwarts I probably got back to Gryffindor tower late at least every third night, because I spent too much time in the potions dungeons, doing extra credit work for my favourite subject. Finished in 1970, then treated myself a few years of studying in foreign countries, namely Sweden and Hungary for a few years. Met my husband Richard in 1974, got married and have four children, all of them are now here at Hogwarts, two in Gryffindor, one in Hufflepuff. The fourth will start next week, so I'll see what house she'll get in. When I got back from my studies I started at the Ministry, brewing potions wherever they were needed and finally got my Potions Mistress degree eight years ago. I've still been a Potions Mistress at the Ministry until I've come here now. 

Professor McGonagall and Remus, I'm also going to hold back with any opinion about you two until I get to know you better. However, I'm really not afraid of not getting along with you. I'd like to pass the Quaffle gently to one of my favourite teachers ever, Professor Flitwick!"

"Thank you kindly, Professor Limbury. As Hjalmar has already given away my age all I need to add is that I've spent a good part of my youth as a professional show duellist, before I found my way back to Hogwarts. A Ravenclaw, I finished school in 1904 and returned to it in 1918, so you can easily deduct that I've been a teacher for eighty years and they've been eighty very good years. It's always been a joy to teach the very thing that sets us apart from Muggles to my pupils. Charms are charming and somehow I never had a problem with any of my students, because for some reasons my classes seem to be a lot of fun at all times, even with the theory we do have to treat as well. I became head of Ravenclaw house in 1938.

Minerva and Remus, I've seen the way you two work and I have full trust in your abilities for a good administration. I wish for you that the school governors stay mostly off your backs!

And now on to Claire!"

"Thank you, Filius. I've been here since quite a long time. Actually I started teaching about ten years after I left school, in 1958. I've always been kind of a night owl and stargazing was my hobby, so I decided to make my hobby my profession and studied wizarding and Muggle Astronomy. It's not like we see any other stars than the Muggles. I've been a Gryffindor, rather of the quality of the Marauders and the Weasley twins..." 

I can see, that Hjalmar, Edith and Filius grin.

"...and I thoroughly enjoyed school. After my intensive years of studying at the universities I decided that teaching my hobby would probably be kind of fun, so when I got the first chance to get such a job, I took it. I still have a lot of fun doing this and probably will for another while. Along the way during my studies I met a fairly decent fellow and we had a good time, the result was no wedding rings, but two children who have finished Hogwarts a while ago and are both out on their own. My daughter has recently given me my first grand-child who is now the focus of my free time. 

Minerva, Remus, I second Filius' statement. I'm sure, the two of you will do a good job! This strange round thing has now mentally been tossed to Edith!"

"I suppose, I belong to the older generation in here. I've been teaching Herbology for sixty-eight years. Coming from Hufflepuff I've gone on to study Herbology in several facilities, first in magical gardens, then in more medically oriented gardens, finally at a university. I returned to Hogwarts after a break, during which I've had my three children and started teaching. In the meantime I already have ten great-grandchildren and that's a truly wonderful thing. You'll see for yourself, once you get there, Remus and Sirius.

Children have always been the most delightful part in my life next to magical plants. Both need a lot of nurturing and I have always enjoyed doing that nurturing. I am now sharing this with one of my young friends, who will administer that very same love to plants and pupils alike and it pleases me a lot! 

Minerva, can I just say that you're doing wonderful work and that you will continue where Albus has left off perfectly well? And the way I know Remus I'm quite sure he'll be your very support. 

As for the Quaffle - oh yes, I do think, it's time for our resident ghostly teacher, so John, if you please..."

Binns. I don't think he's ever done anything like this in his life, let's see what we can learn about him! I'm really curious and I can see that others look at him with the same interest.

"Seeing you young people here makes me think it would really be time to retire. Which I might do next year or so. I have finished Hogwarts in 1795 as a Hufflepuff. I have started to teach here in 1838 and taught ever since. I can't really remember when it was that I changed from being a living teacher to being a ghost teacher. It must have been about a hundred years after I started. There is really not much I can tell you about myself, because reading and teaching have basically filled my life. 

I'm following the general trend here and give you and Remus a lot of praise in advance, just from seeing your work as Deputy Headmistress so far, Minerva and Remus is prone to do good work by default. Now we have only a few of us left, so who's to be next? Miss Calverleigh?"

"Thank you, Professor Binns. I'm a Hufflepuff, finished Hogwarts in 1986 and went straight into Auror training. I've been on the job as an Auror ever since, but I've specialised in the research of the Defence rather than worked in the field. My colleagues would come back and start finding things out and it was my job to assist them as a more professional researcher. Thus I've gained a very broad range of knowledge in the field of the Dark Arts, which hopefully now enables me to pass it on to the first to fourth year students. I'm looking forward to my new work with a lot of enthusiasm and I've already noticed that I'll have a wonderful guide in Remus Lupin. 

As some of you I've also loved to play Quidditch. I never liked to sit still for too long as a child, so Quidditch was one of my areas where I could spend some energy, I've played on the house team as a Seeker for four years. As a Muggle-born I have dabbled in several sports before I came to Hogwarts. Auror training gave me a lot of possibilities to channel my energies as well and to this day I love to do my daily dose of running. I have been married to my wonderful husband Steven for ten years and we have two children, a nine years old son and a six years old daughter. 

Professor McGonagall, Remus, you have my best wishes for your work as Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster and I'm convinced you'll do a great job. I pass the Quaffle to Penny."

"Thanks, Kate. I'm also a Muggle-born witch, was sorted into Ravenclaw and made prefect in my fifth year. I became head girl in 1993 and finished Hogwarts in 1994. I'm very happy to come back to Hogwarts and teach my favourite subject Transfiguration to the first to fourth years after several years of working for the Ministry. I decided that I'm not cut out for office work, I need to have a better purpose and when I read the ads for the additional teachers here I didn't think long and applied. I'm feeling very much at home already, not the least because of Sirius, who's become a very good friend quickly. Like Kate I'm really looking forward to start teaching next week. I do hope I can get along with the students well and will give my best! I enjoy to watch Quidditch, but was never much of a player myself, though I do like to fly a broom like your next-door witch. Outside of work I really enjoy a good game of chess. I love crossword puzzles and I still do a lot of Muggle stuff like playing on the computer, having e-mail contacts with people all over the world and read lots and lots of books. Last year I broke up with my boyfriend of many years, so right now I'm between men and I'll see what comes along.

Professor McGonagall, Remus, knowing you both as my former teachers, even if Remus has only been my teacher for a year, but he's really been the best, I also know that you will do a near perfect job. And I pass the Quaffle to Poppy Pomfrey."

"As you all know I'm the school's nurse, all of you younger people have gone through my clutches once or twice during your years here at school. The best for my patients is the thing I'm looking for and I tend to become over-protective of them. Remus can sing a song about that as he's been the one student I've naturally seen most often. To this day he probably remains to be my favourite patient. I've been married for over forty years now and my husband David and I have three children who are grown and some grand-children from two of them. 

Minerva, Remus, you and I being very old and close friends I don't think I need to say anything about what I expect from you, because I know you're going to do great work. I do not like Quaffles, but I'll pass it on to Sybill anyway."

Trelawney's voice lacks the smoky timbre when she speaks to the teachers only. 

"My name, as most of you know, is Sybill Trelawney, I've come to Hogwarts to teach Divination in 1980. I've been a Hufflepuff when I came to Hogwarts as a student. I've suffered a lot from being misunderstood when I was a child, but I learned to live with my Gift and made it my profession early on. For the past almost twenty years I have been allowed to see several students with a great Gift for Seeing of themselves. I do not concern myself with the daily hustle and bustle of the school much, only rarely will you see me leave my tower. But I do believe that you will do fine work, Minerva, and you as well, Remus. 

All that remains is passing the Quaffle to Quentin - last, but not least!"

Quentin makes a gesture as if he'd have caught the Quaffle and sets off:

"My name's Quentin Smith, I've come here five years ago and I'm still pretty much a fledgling compared to some of our seasoned colleagues on board here. But I have to say it's been five years of fun. Teaching Muggle Studies is an often underrated subject, because it contains so much. I have to carefully choose from everything the Muggle world represents to give the students a well rounded image. Over all I can only say that I'm having a great time, that I enjoy the students as well as my colleagues and the general feel of Hogwarts. I've been a Muggle-born student as well, but I have two siblings who both got the gift of magic, too, one of them is a seventh year Ravenclaw. I've finished Hogwarts in Gryffindor in 1992. 

Minerva, Remus, I'll just add to everything that's been said that I think you are probably one of the best matched teams of Headmistress/Deputy that has been at Hogwarts in the past hundred years. Glad to be working with you two! And now I believe that the Quaffle goes right back to you, Minerva."

"Thank you, Quentin. Yes, I might say a few words myself, shouldn't I? Gryffindor, I finished Hogwarts in 1928, went abroad for almost ten years, then came back and met my husband. We got married in 1942, but only two years later he was one of the first victims of Tom Riddle, whom most of you probably rather know as Lord Voldemort. A year later I started teaching Transfigurations at a small school in Norway, where I stayed until I was called to Hogwarts in 1969 to replace Albus Dumbledore as he became Headmaster. I also took over the position as head of Gryffindor house then. After the death of the Deputy Headmistress 1973 I became Albus' Deputy and that's how I spent the last almost thirty years. It's been a trying time, because it covered the first and second rise and fall of Lord Voldemort, who has caused much suffering outside as well as inside of the school. 

It is a great pleasure for me to be able to start out as Headmistress in a time of regained peace. I hope, that I will still see many students passing through this castle, curious for knowledge and fun. 

I have been a chaser and captain of the Gryffindor house team in my own school days and to this day I really enjoy watching a good match. 

Well, that has been a very nice round, I'm glad I went through with this little game. Even if we haven't said very much, I do hope we all learned a little something about each other. Now let's move on to the more work related subjects. I believe, Remus has already passed all the schedules to everyone? - Good. If you have looked at them you might have seen that the students have study periods on Wednesday afternoons. It's been kind of a coincidence, but when Remus and I found that almost no one had any lessons we cleared this afternoon for the staff meetings every two weeks. I don't want to make a big affair out of it, but it is a good way to keep up with the goings-on at the school."

We're already discussing a lot of the preparation work for the start of the term. The meeting lasts most of the day, so we head back to dinner directly from there. Sirius and I check, how the twins and Addie are faring. Lily and James are around, they're doing fine. Addie has done some lovely drawings and gives one of them to me. 

"Thank you, Addie! That's a very nice drawing, you know!"

It's a really lovely drawing of a Chinese Fireball flying over a green meadow. I look around and decide, that the piece of wall between the two doors to the inner courtyard will become the exhibition wall for our children's drawings. Then I pin Addie's first one up. She's made another drawing for Sirius and that one follows right away. 

**Friday, 24.8.1999 / Sirius**

We're back in Grimmauld Place to see how the renovation work has been done. Most of it is already finished and I'm amazed at the change that house went through. If my parents could see it they'd probably die on the spot. 

All the rooms have received a fresh paint, all of them white. We have the bathrooms and the kitchen renovated and all the fireplaces get an overhaul as well. The cellar has a pantry which has been completely emptied, everything in there torn out, then it, too, gets a fresh coat of white paint. The hardwood floors are torn out and redone in a lighter wood. All the ugly old gas lamps have vanished as have the terrible chandeliers. The knocker on the door is now the head of an eagle as we wanted something neutral. All the rooms have also received new windows. 

I look at Remus.

"What do you think, Remus, did we get ourselves a new townhouse or do we sell it? I wouldn't ever have thought that I could ever like the place, but now it looks like something so entirely different, that I don't recognise it anymore," I say.

We walk through the four floors and inspect everything. The ground floor consists of the huge drawing room, the cavernous study, which is now the new kitchen and pantry, two smaller rooms and the large dining room. On the first floor are the master bedroom with an attached bathroom and the library. On the second floor are about eight bedrooms and two more bathrooms. The old attic is now completely renovated, isolated and has also been painted in white. The basement where the old kitchen was has been turned into a normal room. Remus sighs.

"It's almost a shame to sell it, Siri."

I nod.

"Okay, we'll keep it and furnish it. That can take a while... It's been a good idea to have it connected to get electricity and a telephone and all. The room in the basement can be turned into a playroom. The old drawing room we'll furnish as a big family room."

"Won't you mind sleeping in your parent's old master bedroom?"

"They've hardly used it. Father used it, Mother used the larger room on the second floor. I don't hope it will matter to me, love, because it does look so nice now. All that remains is the backyard. Should be friendlier."

"Shouldn't be too much of a problem. We have time to do all of this though."

Yes, we do. We do have a few ideas already and Remus looks at the wonderful new kitchen, which is Muggle- and magic-fitted. It's amazing what's become of that old study, which I feared so much as a small child. I can't wait to have this place furnished in lots of brilliant colours, modern furniture and regularly filled with a lot of music. 

The decision to keep the house after all made, we return to Hogwarts and wait for the term to start.


	15. Term starts

**Wednesday, 1.9.1999 / Remus**

The last minute work finally done I get time to go to our flat, take a shower and get dressed in the usual formal garments we wear on feast nights. Sirius gets dressed next to me and laughs.

"I wish I could be out there with you when you receive the new first years, love! Just watch..." he says.

"Do you know I've got a bit of stage fright for the first time I'll lead the Sorting?"

"I can imagine. But you'll love every minute! How many new ones do we get?"

"Forty-eight."

"That's not bad."

"I think, it's about the average. Last year was a fairly strong year. Wonder how this year turns out. Well, are we ready?" I ask.

"I think so, let's say goodnight to the children."

We go over to the living room and pick up the little ones who will be taken to bed by Winky tonight and then we give Addie a kiss.

"You'll be in bed by nine, young lady, okay?" Sirius reminds her.

"Lily is here, I know I will," Addie says with a grin.

"Good. She'll be strict enough. Have a nice evening, sweetie."

"You too! Hope, the Sorting goes well, Remus!"

"Thanks, Addie. And sleep well!"

We leave our quarters and walk through the corridors over to the Entrance Hall. I have already put the stool and the Sorting Hat into the little chamber behind the teacher's table. The staff starts to assemble at about the same time the returning students arrive from Hogsmeade station. Many of them greet us with a wave of their hand, with a smile, a grin. I almost stumble over Jennifer Finch-Fletchley, by now a third year Gryffindor. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jennifer. Welcome back! Did you have a nice summer?"

"I did, thank you, sir! Good evening, Professor Lupin. Hi, Professor Black!"

"Hey, Jenny!"

She's off to the Gryffindor table, where a gaggle of her classmates and friends assemble closer to the door. As usual, the Great Hall looks magnificent for the start of term feast. Standing next to the entrance I throw a glance at Minerva, who has taken the seat in the middle of the teacher's table. I'll be at her left, with Siri next to me. To the right sits Filius Flitwick, then Edith Sprout. Poppy has taken the place next to Sirius. I look at Sirius, who's a picture of a man! He wears a pair of black satin trousers and a white shirt with the collar left open and draped over the collarless black silk dress robes. His hair goes just below his shoulder blades, that's where I usually crop it for him, but it's back to that wonderful shiny mass of silky tresses that I used to know. What's left of his years of torture are several lines on his face, but when his face started to fill out again, some of the worst ones of those lines vanished. The remaining ones only make him look more interesting. I have to pull my gaze away from him, because looking at him like that always has a certain effect on me. So I turn back to watch the students filing inside of the Great Hall, eagerly chatting about their summer vacation and what they expect of the new year, homework, boy- or girlfriends and general gossip. It makes me smile. Sometimes I think we have to really give them a good shake, to wake them up and look around themselves, so they can see things. But I cover the politics for the sixth and seventh years in Defence now, especially since John really doesn't do a very good job in teaching it to them in history. I think, I will tell Kate to encourage the kids to bombard Binns with questions during their history lessons, that should be the very thing to drive him into retirement. After 160 years no one could talk of an early retirement.

I'm drawn out of my musings when the last students seem to have come inside from the Entrance Hall. I look for any stragglers and then close the double door from the outside. Soon after I can hear Hagrid knocking on the main door. I open it and he says:

"The firs' years, Professor Lupin!"

"Thank you, Hagrid, I'll take them from here!"

Hagrid smiles at them once more and goes inside to join the staff at the teacher's table. I turn to the children, my are they small! Why am I thinking this every year?

"Welcome to Hogwarts, children. My name is Professor Lupin and I'm the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. Come inside, so I can give you a bit of information."

The children file inside of the Entrance Hall and I lead them over to the chamber on the other side of the door to the Great Hall. I open the door and watch them scramble inside. I look around. They have all donned their school robes and look presentable.

"Well, what's waiting for you now is an important rite here at Hogwarts, you will be sorted into your house, which will be your home here at the school for the next seven years. You'll be in class with your housemates and your classmates from another house, you will share the dormitory with your housemates in the same year and you'll spend your free time mostly in your common rooms. The house provides the family for you while you're here. There are, as many of you already know, four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. All four of them have their merits and have brought forth great witches and wizards through the centuries. You can expect to find friends in your house once you will be sorted. Now, we're getting ready for you in a few minutes, please wait here patiently until I come and get you."

I have to go over to the Great Hall to set up the stool and place the hat on it. Then I return to fetch the children.

**Minerva**

It is a strange feeling that after more than twenty-five years someone else than me picks the first years up. When I see Remus leading them into the Great Hall though I'm beaming, as he's really going to do a good job. His warmth and affection for everyone shines through everything he does, even if he still keeps his distance to people. Forty-eight new pupils assemble in front of our table facing the other students. Remus stands next to them and we wait for the Sorting Hat to sing its little song. 

**Sirius**

Hagrid comes into the Great Hall and sits down at his usual seat at the far left end of the teacher's table. Poppy sits next to me and says:

"I can't believe that Remus is going to come leading the first years inside and do the Sorting ceremony. I'd never have thought he'd be teaching here one day, let alone become Deputy Headmaster. I just wish Fanny and Quintus could still be here and see it. They'd cry tears of happiness, Sirius."

"I'm sure they would. They really did everything for him and loved him to bits! They'd be so proud!"

I'm so proud of him! I was so afraid he'd back out of the chance to become Deputy Headmaster and I'm so happy he hasn't. It certainly wouldn't have been cowardice, but he thinks he doesn't deserve it! He's lined up the first years and steps next to them while the Sorting Hat sings its song. In a way I'm missing Albus on his usual spot. Minerva looks more regal, and her presence is probably just as charismatic as Albus'. Well, we'll have to get used to it. Over the vacation we've been to visit him at his house in Cornwall on two occasions. He's coping well and says that he'll enjoy some solitude for a while. I'm not sure I believe him though. He's much too used to be around the wizarding youth of Britain and I'm afraid he will miss the intellectual challenge he met here at Hogwarts with the teachers and visitors. Though he gets lots of visitors in Cornwall, too.

The song is over and everyone applauds. Remus steps next to the stool and looks at the first years:

"You've heard it. I'll call your names, you come forth and put the hat on your head. And when it announces your house, just follow the noise and join your house table. Anderson, Basil!"

A boy with straw blond hair steps out of the line and walks to the stool. He picks up the hat, sits down, puts the hat on his head, where it drops down to his nose as usual and a short moment later the hat announces:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The first new student is for my own house! We all applaud and Basil runs to the table almost in front of where I sit.

"There's your first new student, Sirius..." Poppy remarks. 

"In fifth, sixth and seventh year we used to look at the students and then bet what house they'd be sorted to. The one with the most correct guesses won two Galleons."

"That's an ages old sport, Sirius," Minerva remarks.

"Thought so. It was fun, nevertheless..."

"Atkins, Harvey!" Remus calls.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Banks, Sylvia!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Beckenridge, Benita!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Bryanston, Selina!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Selina hops off the stool, drops the hat on it and takes a sprint to the Gryffindor table. She's an adorable doll with chestnut hair and seems to be quite happy to have been sorted into Gryffindor. There's a fourth year boy by the same name in the house, so I wonder if they are siblings. In any case she's beaming.

"Clancy, Marcus!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Clearing, Shannon!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Dryden, David!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I'm getting a steady stream of new students into my house. I smile at all of them, because I'm pleased for every one of those children who will join that cheerful bunch up there in Gryffindor tower.

"Elvaston, Michael!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Fenwick, Bruce!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Frost, Arlette!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Glover, Holly!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Keller, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Limbury, Brianna!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

I turn my head to look at Annis, who applauds her daughter's sorting and winks at Brianna, who sits herself beside the last girl sorted into Gryffindor, Holly Glover. Then Annis looks over to me and calls:

"You take care of my kid there, eh?"

"You bet, Annis!"

Then there's the next girl in line to be called:

"McKinnon, Diana!"

McKinnon? There are still McKinnons left? Wow. I'm glad to hear that. Diana is sorted into Gryffindor as well and then I notice to my astonishment that there are two more. They seem to be triplets! That's going to be fun, especially since all three of them, Elizabeth, Diana and Mary are all sorted into Gryffindor. I'm grinning. The two boys look a bit forlorn in the sea of seven new girls already sorted into Gryffindor. 

Remus

Have fun with those triplets, everyone. They look like a happy-go-lucky bunch! One of the next names on my list brings back memories of old as well, as it's a Prewett. The sturdy boy is sorted into Hufflepuff. It seems to be a year of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs again, as so far there are very few Slytherins and only slightly more Ravenclaws on my list. As the houses are announced I'm noting them down behind the names. I'll have ample time to sort the files tomorrow morning. Four more boys get sorted into Gryffindor. And then it's Sarah Snider's turn. 

"Snider, Sarah!" I call.

She looks at me and smiles when she comes forth and puts the hat up. 

"RAVENCLAW!"

I mark an R behind her name and smile at her when she joins her table. There are three more students for Slytherin, two girls and a boy. In the end there are only six new Slytherins, but sixteen Gryffindors, eleven Ravenclaws and fifteen Hufflepuffs.

The Sorting over I place stool and hat back in the antechamber and return to take my seat next to Minerva. Who gets up and announces:

"All my announcements will be made after the dinner. Enjoy it!"

She gives the sign for the food to arrive on the tables and all of the new Muggle-born and many of the wizarding first years sit there and look as astounded as I did when I saw this for the first time. I help myself to a good portion of mashed potatoes and some stew. We're getting a fairly decent red wine to our food and some water at the side. While we eat we enjoy the usual dinner conversations. 

"You've done well, Remus," Minerva says.

"Thanks, Minerva. It felt foreign somehow... not you!"

She laughs.

"Ask me! I couldn't but think it should have been me! I felt so out of work... but then I thought it must have felt like that even more to Albus who was Deputy Headmaster for over forty years before he replaced Dippet. And I had a lot of fun watching."

We laugh. And give the children enough time to enjoy their food as much as we do, but finally the plates are wiped clean and the leftover food vanishes. The students start looking in Minerva's direction. She gets up and calms the noise:

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. As you have already been informed, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore decided to retire. I have taken over as your new Headmistress. Any kind of question, problem etcetera that you used to ask me about would now have to be directed to our new Deputy Headmaster, Professor Remus Lupin."

I get up and I'm happy to hear the applause especially from the older students. I sit down again. Minerva continues.

"Most of you have probably wondered at the number of teachers at the head table this year. I'm happy to inform you that we have decided to split the workload of the teachers with a core subject, therefore we have a couple of new teachers to welcome to the staff this year. We have a new Potions Mistress, who will be teaching the fifth through seventh years: Professor Annis Limbury!"

Annis gets up and receives a nice applause. The same goes for her five other new colleagues. I'm quite pleased that Neville gets a huge applause from the Gryffindor table.

"Professor Kate Calverleigh will teach Defence Against the Dark Arts to the first through fourth years. Professor Penelope Clearwater will teach Transfigurations first through fourth years. Professor Clancy Malvern will teach Charms first through fourth years. And finally Professor Waldo Hawkridge will teach Potions first through fourth years."

After all the new colleagues have been welcomed warmly Minerva concludes:

"And finally, since I have abandoned my post as such we needed a new head of Gryffindor house. Professor Sirius Black will be the new Transfigurations teacher for the fifth through seventh years and head of Gryffindor house. May Merlin have mercy on us."

"Oh thank you very much, Minerva!" Sirius mumbles and gets up.

But he gets a huge applause. The students can guess why Minerva makes the remark, they have learned to know Sirius over the past year and most of them, even the Slytherins are quite happy with him. He's been the victim of a few pranks, but has mostly taken it with good humour, handing out a few point losses and a few detentions, but he really dislikes giving detentions, because he needs to sit through them as well. As it seems the students think he's a fun teacher and usually behave themselves in his lessons.

"Quidditch teams needing to replace players who left school last term are asked to contact their heads of houses to fix dates for try-out sessions with Madam Hooch. 

This year we will pick up something that seems to have been lost for a while and will offer a ballroom dance class for those sixth and seventh year students who are interested. Please talk to your head of house about them. 

And that concludes my announcements for the beginning of the term. Once again I welcome you all back and wish you all a good term! You can return to your houses now."

**Sirius**

I get up and watch all the students scramble out to the Entrance Hall and from there in the direction of their houses. I give the Gryffindors a couple of minutes and tell Remus:

"Well, I'm going to have a quick word with the bunch of them, I'll come right down afterwards, okay? I'll have a pretty full morning tomorrow."

"Fine with me. See you in a while!"

I kiss him quickly and set off, up the stairs that I used to walk so many times and going a bit down memory lane. I actually catch up with the kids who are just filing into the common room. I haven't been in here since I've returned to Hogwarts and it makes me smile when I realise that the Fat Lady can't be very happy with me. When she sees me coming, she cringes.

"Sorry, my lady!" I say quietly, "I hope you can see it in your heart to forgive me!"

"Professor McGonagall has told me you have replaced her as head of Gryffindor house, so I suppose I'll have to! Though I really thought of retiring!" she says with a grim expression.

The last students still outside stare at the two of us and I sigh.

"I'm really sorry, I was out of my mind back then, my lady. I really didn't mean to hurt you in any way. I'll tell you how the story ended one day, but for now, just let me tell you that I regret attacking you!"

"It's a while ago, Sirius Black."

I hold the portrait open and Byron Johnson, Angelina's brother, looks at me and asks:

"What's she referring to, Professor?"

"Unpleasant story, believe me. You might ask Angelina, I'm quite sure she remembers well. She was a fifth year then... now, in you go, I'd like to have a word with the bunch of you all!"

The last students outside of the door get in and I follow them. The common room looks the same as I remember it, with a blazing fire in the huge fireplace, the squashy sofas and armchairs and the many tables and chairs grouped across the room. 

"Can I have your attention for a moment, please? And can you check that everyone is around?" I call.

The bustling stops and Cynthia White, a sixth year prefect, says:

"I'll check the girls' dorms and send everyone back down."

"Good, thank you, Cynthia. Byron, could you do the same with the boys?"

"I'm off," the boy says and runs up the stairs. 

They find a couple of house-mates who have already departed upstairs. I tell them all to sit down somewhere and then say:

"Well, I thought it might be appropriate to talk to you a bit, since I'm taking over the house from Minerva. Sorry to keep you up for an other while, as it's already close to ten o'clock. As you must know I've been a Gryffindor myself, and I've had a reputation to be a rather mischievous and lively one - as are most of you I know, or assume with you first years. 

And you little ones are my first concern, since you've only just arrived, much of all of this is probably still a bit much to take in. You can always speak up to your house-mates. I don't think anything in the loyalty among Gryffindors has changed since the days I have gone in and out of this common room..." 

I look at the older students who all hastily confirm that.

"... Thought so. You'll love being here, I'm sure. The hat hasn't sent you to Gryffindor for no reason. But that's what I'd like to talk to every one of you. I'm proud to be a Gryffindor and so should you. But you shouldn't let your pride move further on to become prejudiced against other houses - well, mainly ONE other house. I have done that. My classmates and I may have had more reason than you could have, but it was still inexcusable. Unfortunately almost all of my Slytherin classmates turned out to become Death Eaters and some of them, my own cousin among them, belonged to the most bloodthirsty, cruel followers of Lord Voldemort. That guided a lot of my behaviour as a student and some of our pranks were not harmless. 

So - when you will have to deal with Slytherins in the corridors, try to be on your best behaviour. Don't irritate them, don't challenge them, don't threaten them, best ignore them. For more than fifteen years, Slytherin house was headed by a person who was a former Death Eater. To all of his students he was still a loyal Death Eater. He was forced to try his best to prevent his students from becoming Death Eaters by default while still acting the loyal Death Eater. I don't know how many of you know that Severus Snape was a spy for Professor Dumbledore. Those who didn't do now. That is mostly why his house was contaminated and why the students in Slytherin were very unpleasant characters to deal with. Slytherin, however, has a new head of house in the person of Professor Carla Vector and those of you who are taught by Professor Vector will know that she is a character more in the kind of Professor McGonagall. She is doing her best to return Slytherin to what Salazar Slytherin originally sought in his ranks. Not cruel, bloodthirsty criminals, but young people with ambition, willing to work to reach their goals and yes, maybe the more sly and definitely cunning types. But that alone doesn't make them evil and who knows, if they're not provoked, the mood between the two houses can be altered and improved.

Give them a chance to get over the last war. There are still five years worth of students who have grown up in the atmosphere of a house that was considered a snake's nest of junior Death Eaters. Some of you have witnessed when a whole year of Slytherin students have been expelled from the school for having joined the ranks of the Death Eaters. But we can only get times to really change, if we are willing to work and change them. Muggle psychology says that no one can change another person's attitudes. A person can only change their own attitude.

But that's enough about this sombre subject. I felt the need to talk about it because no one ever did that with us when I went to school. What they did was stomping out the little flames of the little explosions and that never did any good. I'd like to prevent the fire before it even starts smouldering. Will you guys help me doing this?"

"Well, if the Slytherins are doing the same, I'm all for it," says Martina Bell, one of the more mischievous fifth years.

"I can tell you this much: Professor Vector is talking to her Slytherins at this very moment about this very subject. None of us is against a certain amount of house pride and house rivalry, it's one thing that keeps us thriving, but nevertheless we can't keep encouraging a small guerrilla going on here at Hogwarts."

"Okay, I for one promise to try!" says another of the prefects.

And then slowly, I get the promise from everyone around. I smile at them.

"Good. That's all I ask. Now take the little ones to their dorms, they look dead on their feet. Have a good night's sleep, because your classes will start in the morning! Oh, and I meant to say that you might see me around here a bit more often than Professor McGonagall, and that my turning up here does not mean a catastrophe or something just less bad happened. Okay?"

They all nod.

"Well then. Good night, everyone. I'll see you in the classroom."

They all wish me a good night, too, and the last thing I see before turning to the portrait hole is the prefects taking care of the first years, showing them to their dormitories. It makes me smile. This house has given me warmth for the first time in my life when I came here. I would have had a hard time with the other children's attitude against the Black family had it not been for my close friendship with James. James, who at this moment makes himself visible again. Of course he's already known as another Gryffindor ghost among the students and my old friend. But he wanted to stay in the background through this. While I'm going back down the stairs he says:

"You know, if someone had taken more care of us, and even more of the Slytherins for that matter, back then, who knows, maybe much of those horrible things had never happened."

I sigh.

"I know. Took me long enough to realise that every adult was at fault for at least a part of the things that happened here at school. I'm trying to do better, even if there's no new Dark Lord in the vicinity. It's going to be a very slow process, but with Carla we have an utterly uncontaminated person acting as head of Slytherin house and she intends to walk the path with me. Filius and Edith never had those problems. Not to the degree at least. Slytherins have always tried to stomp over the Hufflepuffs, but those are usually too down to earth to be intimidated that easily. And Slytherins do have at least a bit of respect for the Ravenclaws. Gryffindors are just too volatile and storm off at the slightest provocation. Most of us take a long time to learn, James."

"I know. And I also know I'm as much at fault as others. I've certainly been as arrogant as your next best Slytherin."

"We were still children, James, and no one kept telling us, we were basically left to our own devices in that tower up there, unless something happened Minerva really couldn't let go. Which is why I'll be up there sometimes, even if it's just once a week. I'll give them a person to talk to. I don't want to be a head of house who's so distant that they only see him when he's got to dole out punishments. I want more, I want their trust."

"You'll probably have to work for that, Sirius."

"Which is why the first and second years will be the ones where I really start. I want them to see me as a father figure, someone they know they can go to if they need to."

"You love children!" James remarks, grinning.

Well, he states the obvious. I wouldn't have given much of a thought about any children other than Harry and whatever siblings he might have received back when he was just born. That baby had conquered Padfoot the moment he had been laid in my arms the first time. All I can do now is smile. Teaching at the safe house has probably been the moment when the would-like-to-be-father in me woke up. And yes, I truly like children. And while I'd have to wait for the first years now to grow up and come to my lessons I don't want to wait to get to know them. Penny will teach the little ones and she'll do a good job, but I still want to know them.

If there is one thing I'd have to say Minerva did wrong as head of her house it would be her distance. It's in her character to remain distant to everyone, even though she has a huge heart. Being Headmistress will probably soften her down, but her time as head of Gryffindor definitely was a bit unfortunate, as it went over the two wars. She was excruciatingly fair, but she tended to only turn up at the tower when something really bad happened. It was always a very bad sign if she showed up there. Not many of the students got through to her and asked her advice. Which is a shame, because she could have given excellent and often surprising advice. Most students think she's a cold person. Minerva isn't cold, but she thinks she must remain correct at all times. This includes not showing any kind of favouritism. She can't handle feelings very well. If she shows them, she thinks herself weak. I'm very happy to have found out that she is as warm and loving as most other people. In any case she shows it whenever she's with the twins.

We arrive at the flat. I give it the password and enter. Remus sits by the fire and reads. He wears his rusty red dress robes tonight and looks striking. He looks up and my heart plummets down right into my genitals and beats faster as always when I get to see him after a shorter or longer absence. It's amazing to still feel this deep down in my loins. His smile is what I live for. Even though he's a ghost I can feel James' smirk next to me.

"You're still awestruck, every time you see him, you know!" he says and grins.

"Yeah. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I never want that to stop, James, EVER!"

"Good feeling, eh?"

"You bet, mate!"

I sit down next to Remus and pull him into a lingering kiss that just gives my cock the last kick it needed. Damn, I'm hard and we should go to sleep! Both of us have lessons first thing tomorrow morning. When we part, Remus smiles again and says:

"What brought that on?"

"Love you. When I'm coming in and see you it's just like I've fallen in love with you this very moment. You're beautiful, you know!"

"How nice of you to say that, Padfoot. Do you have anything to do left?"

"No, not tonight."

"Let's look how the little ones do and go to bed then. How was your speech with the Gryffindors?"

"Pretty good, I think, ask James, he was there, too..."

We get up and go to the end of the flat, to throw a quick glance at Addie. She sleeps, snuggled into her duvet, holding her teddy and the pillow. We pull the curtain on her bed closed again and leave the room on tiptoes. I gently close the door. Back at the other end of the flat we first check on Seraina, then on Denny, but both are just as wonderfully asleep. 

After closing the bedroom door behind me, I remark:

"You know, after that bumpy start with the twins and their impossible sleeping pattern they do very well now, don't you think?"

"Yes, we rarely have to get up these days. It's great. I'm glad they are improving so well."

**Thursday, 2.9.1999 / Remus**

After a night of lovemaking and undisturbed sleep we're getting up at seven. Once I'm dressed I go over to look into the rooms of the twins, but both of them are still asleep. Winky is in the living room and asks if I'm taking my breakfast here.

"No, I'll go over to the Great Hall, thank you, Winky. Has Miss Addie been up yet?"

"No, Professor Lupin. Do you wish Winky to go and wake her?"

"No, dear, you don't have to wake her yet. She can sleep for another half hour. Mistress Potter will come soon and she'll take care of that."

We have set up another table in the large bit of living room that remains unfurnished for Lily and Addie to have enough space for their lessons. Today Addie's first real school day starts. She seems to be very excited, because next I know her door opens and she comes out of her room, still very sleepy, but with her slippers in place. She sees me and comes running.

"Good morning, Remus! School starts!"

I laugh and tousle her hair. She hugs me and I say:

"Yes, Addie, school starts. Are you looking forward to it?"

"Yes! Auntie Lily does great and I'm sure I'll learn lots."

"You will."

We wait for Sirius to show up and when he does we both wish her a good start of school with Lily and take off for the Great Hall to eat our breakfast there. Before I can start mine I pick up the schedules for the students and get them ready for the prefects of all four houses. I place the schedules, sorted by years and names at the end of each table for the prefects to pick up and pass to their housemates.

Tea, bacon and fried eggs and toast await me. There's also a nice big glass of orange juice. I've been quite early, so apart from Sirius and I only Filius, who's a notorious early riser and Hagrid are there. The others turn up one after the other and the day, and the term, starts for good.

After breakfast I'm going up to our office. Sirius tags along, talking to some students who have questions. He's starting his day off with the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw sixth year class. There are several students who have been offered to train as Animagi in this class. Sirius thinks it would be fun to pep up the usually rather boring sixth year. This is normally one of the most casual school years, even though there is always a lot of material to learn. But it's between the two big exams, so most students take it a bit easier. All those who had scores of over 80% in their Transfigurations OWLS or sixth year finals last term have received the offer of the Animagus training. Minerva had been willing to offer it to all students in sixth and seventh year, but the school governors have put their feet down, demanding it be an exclusive thing. I know that of the 45 sixth years eight have received a letter and among the 39 seventh years there were six. 

"Professor Black, may I ask you a question?" one of the Ravenclaw sixth years approaches Sirius just before we go up the stairs to our office.

"Yes, sure, go ahead, Tania."

"I was just wondering where we have to come for the Animagus course?"

"Transfigurations classroom."

"Oh, good! How many other students will there be in that course? I was ever so excited when the letter contained that extra bit. My Mum was out of her mind and my Dad thought it was brilliant!"

I grin. Sirius does, too, and tells her:

"Well, THAT is for me to know and you to find out next Tuesday. There's a reason why we do keep quiet about this."

"Why? I don't really see the necessity, unless we're not registering."

"You do register. In fact, all of those among you who have received the letter and will take part in the training are already pre-registered at the Ministry as Animagi in training. You'll learn about the rest next Tuesday in class, alright?"

"Oh, that's good then. Thank you."

"See you in a moment, Tania."

We both gather our materials for the lectures and leave for our classrooms. Most of my seventh year students have already arrived. This ought to be an interesting year, I've never taught Gryffindors and Ravenclaws together, but both houses usually contain bright and interested students, so this should be fun. 

"Good morning, everyone, please take your seats. Thank you! - Now, this is NEWTS class and I'm sure I needn't remind you that you'll have a lot to work. I suppose this is the first time that your two houses are taught together, so why don't we get to know each other a bit better?"

We play a short introduction game and then I'm outlining for them what subjects we'll cover in class. There are some really heavy things in the syllabus for this year. We are covering the more atrocious aspects of certain blood magic spells and Necromancy. To lighten the mood a bit I am teaching them magical wards and more advanced shield spells and duelling spells. I'm watching them taking notes. After one year I know them all quite well, so I spot those who are prone to almost nodding off if the lecture goes on too long. I pull them back in with a few pointed questions, usually to their neighbour first, as a warning. They've figured that out, so they keep each other alert.

There are ten Gryffindors and nine Ravenclaws in this group and they seem to get along. My next class are the Slytherin and Hufflepuff sixth years, ten students in each house. There are two 'contaminated' students among the Slytherins, John Wilson and Sabrina Dunston. These two have behaved reasonably well in the past years. I don't know if we have been able to catch them, but I think a year under Arabella's and now a year under Carla's headship will already have done them some good. Both ladies are very capable to get their wishes across. 

It's going to be quite a bit of duelling and lots of theory for those students this year. 

**Lily**

I'm getting to Hogwarts early as promised to be with the children through the day. Now that the twins don't need to be lifted around for everything anymore I can baby-sit them easily. James helps me and while I'm working with Addie, he watches over the twins. This is going to be a fun job and I love it already. Addie is up when I get to the flat shortly before eight, but Sirius and Remus have already left to go to breakfast and their first lesson. 

"Hello, Auntie Lily! I'm up already!" Addie calls when she sees me.

"That's fine, Addie, good morning! Did you have breakfast already?"

"Yes, I did. When do we start?"

"As soon as you are dressed, little one. Go and get something warm on."

"Muggle or wizard?" she wants to know.

"Whatever you feel like, Addie."

"Alright!"

She's back ten minutes later, neatly dressed in jeans, t-shirt and jumper, wearing warm socks and her slippers. 

"Very good. Let's start with maths then."

Through the morning we work through different subjects. She's sucking it all up and reads and writes really well already. She'll be easy to teach and I'll probably get beyond the regular primary school stuff for her, but then I'll probably engage Morag to do it, since I'm not too adept with some of the subjects. Right now we work on some simple mathematics. Then I turn to something more creative and start to teach her to read musical notes and sing. I have brought a keyboard along, which Hermione has bought for me. Trying to remember my piano lessons I teach her to read the notes and play the melody on the keyboard. She has quite a nice, clear voice and she learns a song during the lesson. 

"This is neat, Auntie Lily! I like doing that," she says.

"Great, we'll do lots more then. There's so much stuff around and loads of scores are available. You sing nicely."

**Remus**

The first two lessons are over, I lock up the classroom again and return to my office, where I take my notes from last night and sort the folders for the students into the different houses. Then I write down the lists of the new students for Filius, Edith, Sirius and Carla. That's done quickly and I can turn to today's mail and work through the correspondence, mostly letters from parents. This early in the term there are only two letters and those are done quickly. I file away the original letter and the reply into the correspondence folder. Then Sirius comes back after his double class with the Slytherin and Hufflepuff fifth years.

"Hi, love. How did it go?"

"Loved it! I really liked teaching potions, but it's a lot more fun doing Transfigurations," he says brightly.

I look over at him. He does look in great spirits. He sits down and picks up the list of Gryffindor first years to fill into the prepared folders. He's already got about a dozen folders out, but now he needs four more. That done he adds the names and puts the folders away into the file cabinet. Then we have a little time to go down to our flat and see the children. Both come crawling quickly when they see us coming. They haven't had much of us these past few days and I laugh, when I pick Denny up from the floor.

"I'm amazed that you even still recognise me, Denny! I've only seen so little of you in the last days."

"Papa!"

"Yes, my love, tell me, what have you been up to all morning?"

Not that I get a very good reply yet, but James gives me an account of what they have done. I carry Denny over to the sofa and sit down with him, but almost as soon as we sit he wants to leave and get something to play. I imagine that Sirius should have been like this sparkling high spirited child, rattling off the words he already knew all over the place and learning new words every day and remember what I've seen in his Pensieve. I glance at Sirius, who listens to Seraina's babbling and hear the words ball and b'oom and both of us start to grin.

"You haven't really put her on a broom, James, now have you?"

"'Course I have! It was fun, wasn't it, Seraina?"

Seraina nods eagerly. I shake my head and ask James:

"And how did you sneak by Lily?"

"Right out the door here. She was concentrating on working with Addie. So I took them out and placed them on your broom, but I held it of course. They couldn't have gone anywhere."

"I wanted to be the first to do that, James!" Sirius pouts.

"Well, you were the first with Harry, I decided I needed to steal it from you," James says and grins.

"Oh you! Shame I can't throw anything at you as it would go straight through. Bloody ghost!" Sirius mutters.

James laughs.

"Don't worry, they'll just love it when you take them. I couldn't ride with them anyway, I could only hold the broom straight. Seraina squealed all happily and Denny just loved it."

"There's my children!" Sirius says proudly.

"Hm, hm..." I make.

"Yeah, your children, too, I know!"

Denny is back, showing me his plush wolf and wants on my lap again. I lift them both up and he snuggles close. It's past the time they should be napping in the late morning. And it's already late enough that we keep them awake for lunch. We'll take them to sleep right after the meal. Which we eat as soon as Lily and Addie have finished their work for the morning. They both look very satisfied. We sit down at the kitchen table and Winky brings up the food. While we eat, Addie tells us about her morning. And then she wants to know all about the feast the previous evening. We tell her everything.

While we eat we also feed the twins and as soon as they've had their fill we take them to their afternoon nap. I'll have two, Sirius will have three lessons. But we have time to chat and play with Addie for a while after the twins have gone to sleep. 

"I'll be back at half past three, Addie, Sirius about an hour later. Then we can play some, alright?"

"Alright, Remus."

**Tuesday, 7.9.1999 / Sirius**

The first long weekend. It's great that Remus and I are both off by lunch time on Friday and then only have to be back by Monday evening. Over the weekend we've been looking around for furniture for some of the rooms at Grimmauld Place, starting with the kitchen and the family room. Remus and Winky love the kitchen already. It has a ceramic tile floor, a modern kitchen combination containing the whole muggle stuff that makes up a kitchen and even a huge fridge. The pantry is more wizard-like, stuff can be kept for quite some time before anything starts to rot. We have given the kitchen a country style, all earth tones, copper pots and pans on the wall, beech wood for all the furniture.

Now I'm really looking forward to this afternoon. All the students who have received a letter with an offer to take part in the Animagus training have accepted, so I'll have eight sixth years and six seventh years. There are three Ravenclaws, three Gryffindors and two Hufflepuffs in the sixth year group and one Ravenclaw, two Gryffindors, a Slytherin and two Hufflepuffs in the seventh year group. 

"Ready to produce a couple of new Animagi, love?" Remus asks and grins.

"Quite. I'm so looking forward to that!"

I'm getting my material together, the notes we've made during the training at the Sunnegg, the book, with which I'm working through the theory and go down to the classroom. Tania and Sabina are already waiting, together with Martin Hayes, the third Ravenclaw in the group. While I let them inside I can see, that Gregory Simmons, Steven Fisher and Geraldine Michaels, the three Gryffindors are coming through the corridor, closely followed by their Hufflepuff colleagues Helena Bykova and Irene Gray.

Once they're all inside I close the door and push all the tables out of the way and conjure a load of cushions on the floor, then I welcome them.

"Hello, everybody, it's great to see all of you here. You are all quite courageous, as this is not only quite a piece of magic, it's definitely a dangerous bit of magic when you attempt it for the first time. Would you mind to give me a short bit about yourselves and why you decided to follow the offer made to you?"

They all present themselves shortly and tell me why they think it would be interesting or cool to do this. I'm content and tell them:

"Well, I'm going to show you what you are aiming to do."

I transform. Then I do some of the typical Padfoot antics and play the dog. I can see them all smiling, some of them grinning and return to my human form.

"Professor, what was your motivation to learn this?" Geraldine asks.

I sit down on a big cushion, cross my legs and reply:

"I was part of a great group of four friends. One of them suffered from being a werewolf. Yes, I'm talking about Professor Lupin. The worst thing for Remus about having to transform once a month was that he had to be all alone. Back in the days when we were at Hogwarts there was no Wolfsbane potion available yet. It's a more recent development. So Remus had to go outside of the castle and was locked up in the Shrieking Shack. Which, by the way, got its name from his screaming through the painful transformations. My other friends and I hated to see him suffer. We were determined to find something to help him and while reading up every possible source we found that werewolves generally do not attack animals. So we decided to become Animagi. We succeeded early in our fifth year and from then on we stayed with Remus through his transformations."

"Wow," says Irene.

"And did that really help? I mean, his transformations must still have been painful, weren't they?" Tania asks.

"Yes, that of course was something we couldn't take away. The true help was that he wasn't alone. He was a lot calmer and he stopped hurting himself. A werewolf who is locked up without the sedation from the potion will try everything to get out of his confinement and will run against walls, doors, anything. The bloodlust demands it to hunt and since nothing is there to be hunted and killed, the werewolf turns on to itself. Seeing Remus on the mornings after his transformations without the potion was heartbreaking. Madam Pomfrey used to have to heal broken bones, gashes all along his arms, legs and chest, he'd usually lost a lot of blood. It made me learn healing spells, so I could help him after Hogwarts. When he was with us in our animal forms, he used to be much calmer and there were no injuries."

"That's an amazing story, Professor," Helena whispers.

"It's one I'm quite proud of, if I may say so myself. We were unregistered Animagi, but we figured that there were a lot of others who hadn't registered either. In the meantime I'm registered properly of course. - Did anyone among you look up the presently registered Animagi?"

"I did," Sabina says, "and I was going to ask you, because Professor Lupin is on that list, too."

"That's right. It started out as an experiment and we fully expected him to be unable to do it, but he managed the transformation as an Animagus."

"He's a wolf, too. Do you think, he became a wolf because of his werewolf?" Sabina asks on.

"Yes, I do."

"Does this help him in any way?" Steven wants to know.

"In fact it helps him immensely. The Wolfsbane potion keeps his mind clear, but the Animagus transformation allows him to forego the painful werewolf transformation. Why do you think would that be? - Don't hold your hands up in this class, please, just speak up, okay?"

"Because the Animagus transformation is painless?" Martin asks back.

"Precisely. At least after the first few times. In fact Remus didn't think it hurt at all, but he's got a very high pain tolerance from his thirty-five years of transforming painfully. For him that was nothing at all, while our students did feel quite a bit of pain in the beginning. When I transform into Padfoot, then I feel nothing anymore. The transformation is swift and I could do it in mid-jump and still land correctly on two or four feet."

"Padfoot?" Irene asks and grins.

"Oh, yes, Padfoot. That's the nickname I got tagged with. For looking like the Grim and having these huge paws. But this Grim here is a rather playful and loving one. Remus got off worse though, you might have heard me calling him Moony already..."

They all laugh.

"Well, then it's time to get to the start of this. You'll have to learn a lot of theory and a really long line of spells. We'll be using the same method I've used for my students at the Sunnegg, which is the name of the big farmhouse in Switzerland, which was the safe-house for Harry Potter and several other students of his year. The method requires two potions, though the first one is just to feed your curiosity, but it's a good training for the real thing: the potion required for your initial transformation."

We're diving right in and I'm giving them a summary of what they're going to study in the next few months. They're quite amazed that they will transform relatively early. 

"If we're to transform that soon, why do we have the subject for a whole year?" Gregory asks.

"Because the initial transformation is not the biggest part in the game. That you can turn yourself into an animal doesn't make you that animal. The rest of the year will be used for you to really train to become the animal that's inside of you."

After the double lesson with the sixth, I have all the seventh years. As soon as they have all passed their initial transformation I'll have them together, so they can learn to hold their form over several hours and train to become their animals. 

**Sunday, 19.9.1999 / Hermione**

It's my birthday today and we're spending it at the Canine Townhouse, which is the name Sirius and Remus have bestowed on Sirius' old family home at No 12, Grimmauld Place. Of course the address remains the same, but the house looks nothing like it did when I saw it for the first time. 

During the past two weekends they have furnished the house. Sirius and Remus occupy the master bedroom on the first floor. One floor up are the twins' and Addie's rooms. The other five rooms have been furnished as bedrooms with a four poster each and some additional furniture to make them comfy. There is not a single room in the whole house that's not covered in a coat of completely bright white paint. The white is complemented with colourful carpets, rugs and curtains. The furniture is stylish, but solid and friendly. Most has a country feel that I really like. The big family room has different areas now. Around the big fireplace is a classical sitting area, next to it seems to be a playground for the twins, there's a big round table near the windows and sideboards run along some of the walls. The windows open to the small bit of garden on this side of the house, with a door to go out. I think, if the Blacks of old could see the change on this house they'd all be shocked to the bones. 

I love the kitchen. It's situated next to the family room. A door has been broken through the wall to connect the family room with it. It's a lovely archway and right next to the door there is another bit of the wall that has been taken out, to form a kind of pass-through. Some of Remus' favourite cookbooks have taken residence there. 

The kitchen itself has turned out lovely. The walls are painted in a very light ochre, which fits perfectly with the light brown stone top of the combination. There are dozens of wooden cupboards and cabinets painted in olive green. Sunflowers and poppies are painted on many of the cabinet doors. The big window lets in the light now and is covered with only a white gauzy curtain. Even that has a summer theme. I find Winky working here, humming happily. 

"Hello Winky!" I call.

She comes flying to say hello. 

"You look like you really like this place, Winky?"

"Oh, I is loving it here, mistress, it's so beautiful. And so lovely. Master Lupin has done everything to make work easy for me here, do you see the steps everywhere?"

"I do. How considerate of him! Can you reach everywhere then?"

"Most everywhere. What I can't reach I is doing with magic anyway."

"Good! I'm glad you like it. You would have been scared had you seen the house before."

"I is seeing it once. I is having to take something here for master Barty, many years ago!"

"Poor you! I hated to see this place before. But now it looks completely transformed."

"But now you must leave the kitchen, mistress Potter, because we is cooking your birthday dinner. You is not supposed to see that!"

I smile.

"All clear! I'm getting out of here right away!"

She gives me a friendly shove in the direction of the door. Harry and I sit with Remus, Sirius, James and Lily in the family room and talk, while the children are playing around us. Remus shows us his crop of the photos from Draco and Parvati's wedding last week. They are showing us on the ship on the Lake Geneva on that wonderfully bright autumn day. The ship had been decorated in a harvesting theme to represent the season. It covered the harvesting of cereals and fruits, represented by sheaves of wheat, grates filled with apples and grapes, lots of sunflowers and bright yellow, red and olive tablecloths, napkins and dishes. It was magnificent and I loved the wedding clothes of Draco and Parvati, too. Both wore matching turquoise dress robes. They looked stunning of course. Since Draco isn't so pale anymore he wore the turquoise just as well as Parvati.

We're talking about the wedding and how much fun it has been. When I see some pictures of the twins I grin:

"They've been at two weddings before they've even turned two!"

"Three even, yours included. And there will probably be more, the way things look..." Sirius remarks.

"Do you think so?" Harry asks.

"Did you see Neville lately?" Sirius asks back.

"Not very often. He's usually coming to the Sunnegg on Wednesday evening."

"He and Hester are really close lately. She's practically moved into his rooms at Hogwarts," Remus tells us.

"Wow... Ginny and Ernie are really thick still as well. But I think they want to wait until they're out of Avalon before they get married," I remark.

"Are you getting comfortable at the Stöckli?" Sirius asks.

"Yes, it's so cosy! Just very nice for the beginning of our family."

"Good."

The rest of the afternoon is spent chatting and playing games, while some of the gang come in one by one. Mandy and Jason join us the first. By tea time most of the gang is there and I get to blow out my nineteen candles on the cake and open my presents. They're spoiling me! Many things I get are already lovely little baby things, which are very welcome of course. I'm moved to see those tiny things. It seems like Seraina and Denny are already so big! 

I can feel the baby kick several times a day and it's a wonderful feeling. Sometimes it's pretty rough, but it tells me that the baby is fine and strong. Harry's hiding his anxiety about the birth and all pretty well, he's giving me a calm appearance. But I'm not so sure he's all that calm. I'll see it when it's time and when I'm about to enter the delivery room. He'll see for himself then that it's not the end of the world but the beginning of life and I'm quite sure he'll not mind too much. I can't wait for it. Soon! I'm through three quarters of the pregnancy now. I'm allowed to apparate for the next six weeks, then I'll have to stay home, use a Portkey or the Floo network. 

"Hermione, didn't you say you're not allowed to apparate anymore a month before the birth?" Sirius asks me.

"That's right."

"Do you want to stay here for the time? You can still floo to the Academy or take the Tube..."

"You know, I think that's a brilliant idea. Then I can still attend lectures..." I reply.

Then I look at Harry.

"Yes, I agree. That would be a wonderful idea."

"Thanks, Sirius, we'll stay here then."

"Choose one of the rooms upstairs. Or take one down here... the two rooms here on the ground floor remain to be furnished, we could decorate one for the two of you. Then you don't need to walk up and down the stairs either."

"We'll do that, Siri. Thank you for the hospitality. This is nicely close to everything and I can use the Tube, so I won't have to apparate at all and don't need to bother with the Floo either."

**Remus**

I bet this is the first time this house witnesses a happy party like that. We've invited the gang to Hermione's birthday to show off what has been done to the house. Draco and Parvati are the only ones missing, as they're still on their honeymoon. They chose to follow our choice of holiday area and went to the same place we were on Zanzibar. 

The house really is nice now. We have deliberately exaggerated a bit on the white paint. Except for the kitchen all rooms are done in white. We have added a lot of colour with the fabrics and much of the furniture is painted in colour, so that there is enough to distract from the white walls. We'll decorate the walls one by one with paintings, posters and photos. 

I'll finally get around doing more about my cottage than up to now. We've only sent Dobby or Winky there to keep it clean, but now I'll check what furniture I want to keep and maybe use at the Canine Townhouse. I don't really know what to do with it right now. It's one of the few things that belong to me alone and I'm reluctant to just sell it. This way I might have something to pass down to my daughter when she grows up. Right now all I can do is to see that it doesn't fall into disrepair. It's still a lovely little house and I'm quite fond of it. But it means that over all we now have four residences. Of course we're at Hogwarts most of the time, but I think it's important that we don't lose our roots elsewhere. I certainly don't want to give up the farmhouse, as the Sunnegg is the place with the fondest memories I have of all my life. Never before have I lived so carefree and happy! Three years of teaching the gang, exploring Switzerland with them and living together again with my mate without pressure has been the best time of my life yet. Now our life has found calm times. Sirius and I are a lot more involved with the school and our children, but it's a good kind of involvement. We can see what we achieve. We do something useful. And we enjoy being with each other for as much of the day as we can.

**Monday, 20.9.1999 / Remus**

The gang has gone home fairly late last night. Justin and Ron who are on an early shift today have slept upstairs in one of the guest rooms. They're joining us at breakfast now. 

"Good morning everyone!" Ron calls.

"Morning Ron," Sirius says and pushes the coffee pot in Ron's direction.

Seraina, who's already up and active, crawls over to Justin and gets picked up immediately. 

"Hey baby!" he says and kisses her on the cheeks.

The baby giggles and cuddles close to Justin. He keeps her on his arms and sits down at the table. She starts to babble something to him and he tries to figure out what she says, but there's not that much sense in what she talks yet. Then I hear:

"Who's this, Seraina?" Justin points at Sirius.

"Daddy!" Seraina squeals.

"And who's this one?" Justin points at Ron.

"'On!"

"Good! Who am I?"

"Saina!" 

She can't say her own name yet and she doesn't understand the concept of I and You yet.

"No, sweetie. Who is this?" Justin points at himself.

"U-tin!" She says promptly. She knows her loved ones, even if she can't say their names properly yet. But Justin seems to have understood her very well. 

"And who's that one?" He points at me.

"Papa!" Seraina doesn't even look. 

"Very good. Who have I not asked you?"

"Auntie Lily an' unca 'Ames..." she says and looks around after the ghosts.

"Good girl! You're a clever one, Seraina!" he commends her and earns himself another giggle and grin.

It's one of the simple games Seraina loves to play. She can even associate the people who are couples already. Sirius looks over at her and is pretty proud. 

Ron and Justin leave for work and Sirius and I plan to go back to the Pensieve. That means that Addie and the twins will be under Winky's supervision, but they don't mind. Addie is doing some written work that Lily has assigned her. We go up to the library. In one of the sunnier corners of the library we have set up our study and a reading corner. We have left all the bookshelves, just painted them in a creamy colour and we're starting to fill them with lots of books now. It's a bit empty still, but copying our other books and taking them here has already filled a few of the bookshelves. But of course the library is huge. We intend to take a lot of the copied books from the Hogwarts library here and set them up to fill this really wonderful old library again. 

We have brought our notes and have started to dictate everything into the computer to store it securely. The Pensieve is set up again on the small table in front of the sofa. 

"Your turn again, Moony. We left off when you just moved to Switzerland..."

I remember. So I sit down and put the wand on my temple, think the incantation and pick memories from the spring of 1966. I'm six and a half years old and it's my first day at the new school. We are living at the outskirts of the village, in a farmhouse. The village is on the eastern edge to Bern. 

>> My mum checks that I'm dressed properly. We share the breakfast with dad. He's in no hurry, as he apparates to the Ministry and he only starts work at nine, while I have to be at school at eight in the morning. The way I have to walk is not too long, I take about twenty minutes. It's late April now and the last snow has melted completely. Mum gives me a tote bag containing my slippers and I slip into my Wellingtons for the way to school. Then I put my jacket on and she helps me into the school backpack. It contains only my writing equipment, pencils, crayons and stuff. There is also a small black writing board and chalk as well as a little sponge.

"Don't I need school books, mum?" I ask.

"You will get them at the school. You don't own them here, the school provides all the books and paper you will need."

"Ah. Alright then."

Mum adds a little sandwich for the break, puts on her coat and smiles. Dad gets up and hugs me.

"Have a good start of term, my little one! And enjoy yourself!"

"Thanks, dad, I will!"

"That's my boy!"

Mum takes my hand and we walk out. It's already light outside and we chat while we walk to the school. When we get there, many other mothers and a few fathers are coming with their children. My aunt Carine meets us with my cousin Céline. 

"Hey there! Good morning, Remy! Will you be a good boy and look after Céline?"

"Maman! He doesn't need to look after me, besides he's a year younger! Just because he's a boy...!" Céline protests.

Mum and auntie Carine laugh and lead us inside of the building. The teacher, an elderly woman, welcomes us and tells us to sit down anywhere we like. The desks sit two each, so I ask Céline:

"May I sit with you, Céline?"

"Okay. But can you take the place on the outside, so I can sit across the aisle from Denise?"

Céline points at a girl who I know is her friend from the nursery school.

"Do you want to sit with Denise? It's okay, you know..." I say.

"Yes, I'd like to. You know what? You sit here and we'll be just next to you!"

So I take my seat at a desk in the row next to the windows, Céline and Denise take the next desk in the middle row. There is a third and a fourth row next to those two and there are about five desks in a row from the front to the back of the room. It's a big class of over thirty pupils that file into the room. With all the parents along it fills the room up quite nicely. But only minutes after the lesson has started the parents start to take their leave. 

"Do you want me to come and fetch you home after school?" mum asks me.

"No, mum, I know the way."

"Okay. I'll have your lunch ready by the time you get home then! Bye, love and have a great start!"

I watch her leave. 

**Sirius**

>> Little Remus sits alone at his desk, but he doesn't seem to mind. There are at least thirty children in the class. The elderly teacher greets and welcomes them, then she goes through the roster to learn to know each of them. She gives them cards with their names and tells them:

"Please keep this card on your desk until I know all of you well. When you want to change and sit somewhere else take it along please. I will give you a while until you are settled, then I would like to ask you to remain at your chosen desks. Let's start right away then, okay?"

All the pupils seem to be fine with that, so the teacher tells them:

"Fine. Now, please open your desks. You will find all the books you will need in the desk. Please be careful with them, they belong to the school."

We watch as Remus gets the little blackboard and the chalk pencil out of his backpack and the class starts to write the first letters. It's an easy exercise for Remus who knows how to read and write already. So the teacher comes to his desk, sees what he does and asks him:

"Remus, I have been told that you already know how to write quite well. Would you like me to show you the next step to connect your letters and write script?"

"Yes, please!"

"Fine. Then you'd better put this away, that's not easily done on the board, I give you some lined paper. Get out a pencil, please."

Remus gets to do his first exercises and happily works his way through them. The other children watch him in awe, but don't comment. 

Then comes the bell announcing the break and the teacher orders the children to put on their shoes and jackets again and go outside. Remus follows that order with all the other children. Those who know each other already from the nursery schools start to play immediately. Remus is the only one who has not been to nursery school, so he knows only Céline. But she takes him with her group and introduces him. He plays with the other children, but he is the way I learned to know him later on. He only talks when the others ask him something. He's already conditioned to hold back, to keep himself in check and to be controlled at all times. 

After the break the teacher starts a music lesson with the class. They learn and sing a song together. Remus seems to really like this, he looks happy and quite relaxed. Then there is a period of maths with basics about calculating and addition. The children get a bit of homework and are released for the long lunch break.

Remus packs up, takes all of his books along and leaves the classroom with the other children, sits down on the long bench in front of the classroom and puts his boots back on. He places his slippers neatly under the bench and puts his jacket on, then the backpack. He skips home most of the way and reaches the farmhouse soon. 

"Mum! I'm home!" he calls.

"Hello, Remus! Did you like your first day at school?"

"Oh yes!"

Remus shoots off telling his mum all about the morning's lessons while he drops the backpack and the jacket, pulls off his Wellingtons and replaces them with his slippers.

"Did you get any homework?" Mrs Lupin asks.

"Yes. Just a bit of writing and something out of the arithmetic book. I'll do it right after lunch, okay?"

"Perfect, Remus. Sit down, I'll dish out immediately."

The memory then shifts to a few weeks later, when Remus brings a letter to school to inform the teacher he would be away from school for the next two days. She opens it, reads it and looks down on Remus.

"Tell your mum, that I've noted your absence. I hope you get well quickly!"

"Thank you, ma'am."

Remus looks very pale, but works well at school. He is visibly tired, but his face glows, because he loves it at school. It's still quite playful schooling, but the children get pulled in more serious work quickly. Remus gets to read some books for his age group while his classmates study the basics of reading. Other pupils know how to read a bit as well, but none of them is as far as Remus. He is ahead in reading and writing and he knows a lot about the natural sciences already, but in everything else he's starting just like the other children. 

The memory shifts again, it's the morning after the full moon, Remus has just woken up in his bed. Mrs Lupin has healed most of his wounds already. The rest heals fast, but Remus needs the blood replenishing potion, which usually takes two days to get his blood back to the needed amount. Remus eats little in this time, which is the reason for his being so thin and small. 

**James**

I can only think it again and again. Remus is just about the cutest little child I've ever seen and that includes my own son. It's not only because he's so small, he's really a fine looking boy. He reminds of porcelain, he looks frail, but seeing him running around on the big square next to the school with the other children shows he's a tough little fellow. Well, anyone who has to go through what he goes through every month would be extremely tough. We go through some good times for him. At school he has no really close friend, but he gets along with all of the children and he's not completely alone. He doesn't keep away from the other children either. 

>> It's now Remus' first summer in Switzerland and he discovers the public bath with his mother first and he learns how to swim. He seems to really like the water and his mother has her hands full to keep him away from the river Aare. The bath is situated on the banks of that river, which looks like it flows quite fast. But we can see heads in it, it's a very warm day in July, so there are quite a few swimmers enjoying the cool water. 

Remus seems to enjoy running into the water of one of the more shallow pools. He learns to swim quickly. On some days the family is complete, when Mr. Lupin is with them. Some of the laughter has come back to Remus, when he's with his parents and when they play together. 

There are many memories like that from now on. The first school outing, sports lessons, school and Remus at home, mostly reading or playing. Remus learning how to play chess with his father. If it weren't for the transformations, this would look like the happiest family on earth.

It's amazing that the cover story Remus' mother used with the school authorities works perfectly well. All the children in his class know that he will be ill once a month and they don't even question it further. Remus gets more and more at ease, because no one asks about this mysterious illness. He is an excellent student, in almost all subjects. He frequently helps others. He grows a bit, but slowly and even in his fourth year of schooling he's still by far the smallest in the class. 

>> On a day in late February Remus goes for the exam to move on to secondary school. If he passes he will change to another schoolhouse. When he returns to school on the next Monday his teacher calls up three names and tells those students:

"You will not need to go to the aural exams as you three have already passed the test in your written exams. Congratulations. The rest of you will have to go back to the aural test next Friday. Don't worry, I'm sure you will do well!" 

A next memory takes us to the spring vacation, which Remus spends mostly at home, reading a lot. Then a new memory comes up. Remus rides his bike to the new school, which is a bit farther away than the primary school. He leaves the bike at the appointed spot and goes into the building, where he is informed about his classroom:

"What is your name?" a teacher asks.

"Remus Lupin, sir."

"You have been put in the B-class, Remus, that's one floor up, the first room. You will have to walk back to the left to find it. It's marked with a Roman V and a B."

"Okay, thank you."

Remus walks up the staircase, turns to the left and finds the room quickly. It looks almost the same as his primary school room, with the pegs for his clothes along the outer wall and a long bench running underneath. Remus finds out that this class will be almost as large as the one in primary school, when all of them are sitting at their desks, again two per desk he counts twenty-five students besides himself. The teacher is a nice middle aged man who welcomes them.

"I will be your teacher in German, French, History, Geography and Religion."

The usual distribution of the school books and a lot of notebooks takes place. The class stays in the same room for all of their subjects, the teachers come to the class rooms. Remus loves the new challenge and enjoys that he gets more homework and can delve deeper into many subjects. Of course he has a great advantage in French, an advantage he's glad to share with his cousin, who's in the same class again. The two of them already speak French fluently and read it a bit. 

When he gets back home at lunch he talks a mile a minute about the new school and that he likes it a lot more. He has the first afternoon off. Mrs Lupin sits him down at the dining table and teaches him English. He learns as eagerly at home as he does at school. In his free time, Mrs Lupin already starts teaching him basic magic, even though he isn't allowed a wand yet. 

The memory shifts. It's a dinner one evening before Remus' eleventh birthday.

"Is there anything specific you'd like for your birthday, Remus?" Mr. Lupin asks.

"Broom, broom, broom...." Remus begs.

Mr. Lupin laughs.

"Should have known! You're growing up ways away from the wizarding world and still dream of a broom..."

"Oh, please, dad! Yours is so slow!"

"Okay, I'll see what I can do, child. You really deserve it, you've done so well in school after all..."

Remus' face lights up and he hops up from his chair to go and hug his father. Then the memory fades and another one comes up. It's Remus' birthday and he actually does get a broom, which makes him dance around the house of happiness.

"But NO using it inside of the house, Remus! And you can only ride it here with a disillusionment charm from your mum, is that clear?" Mr. Lupin reminds Remus.

"Yes, papa! Thank you so much!"

Both parents get huge hugs from their son. 

"Hey, I didn't know you were so keen on brooms, Remus!" I remark.

Remus grins. He looks quite happy with those memories. During his time in Switzerland there's really not much that plagued him. He didn't mind having no close friends, just colleagues. He played football with them, rode his bike with them, but hardly ever invited any of them home or was invited to one of them. But he was content that people didn't mistreat him for being a werewolf. Still - what a huge difference to everything we have seen in Sirius' memories. I look at Sirius. He's all smiles. 

"I love to see this, Remus. You look content in almost all of these memories. There's the pain of the transformation, but otherwise you look like you have a real life."

"Yes, I was quite content. I didn't expect more of my life. I was ready to go through whatever schooling I could get in the Muggle schools, because I didn't expect to come to Hogwarts."

Unfortunately it's getting late and we have to go and take care of the children again. Remus and Sirius prepare them to floo back to Hogwarts, where we arrive a while later.


	16. Remus memories

**Friday, 24.9.1999 / Lily**

We're back at the Canine Townhouse and back with the Pensieve. Remus and Sirius want to get on with watching those memories to start writing the book. We go back into the Pensieve as there are still a few memories from that summer before Remus' eleventh birthday.

>> It's the summer holiday which the Lupins spend for a good part in their house in England. The full moon comes up. Remus is still outside and has forgotten time while he explores the forest. When his parents try to get him inside he starts to transform already and so they have to back away. They watch from behind the window how Remus shifts his shape. Quintus intends to stun the wolf to put him in the cellar as soon as he's fully transformed, but Remus is out of the edge of the forest as soon as the transformation is over. Luckily he is still a young wolf, so while he seems very attracted by the human scent that permeates the area he also seems to be terrified by it and so he runs off into the forest. He doesn't maul himself in this night, because he's too busy running for most of it. After hours of running around he finds some water and laps it greedily before finally falling asleep. The memory shifts again to the next morning when he wakes up, completely naked, because the transformation had made short work of his clothes. He is curled up in a bed of leaves under a beech tree when Quintus and Fanny find him. 

"Oh thank Merlin, you are well, love!" Fanny cries.

She checks him and the only blood she finds on his body comes from a few scratches.

"Looks like you went through some brambles there, sweetie," she says, brushing the fringes out of her son's face.

"I'm sorry, mum! I should have been home earlier, but then it went so quick!"

"I know. We'll have to be more careful, love. If that would have happened in Switzerland, where we're so much closer to our neighbours... I'm so glad you ran into the forest! Your papa wanted to stun you, to take you down to the cellar, but you were off so fast we couldn't follow you. We just hoped you wouldn't meet anyone! But it doesn't seem like you did. You'd certainly show blood traces."

"I don't remember, mum. I think I just kept running."

"I'm relieved. Come on, let's take you home."

The memory ends here. We get to see some other memories from those days. Fanny takes Remus to collect herbs again. They go on an outing with Quintus to London. 

Remus empties the Pensieve and fills it with the memories of the first three months of his twelfth year, then the second three months, most of which are filled with school, meeting friends, going to the boy scouts meetings, playing football with other children. Remus is practically never ill outside of his transformations. He's never late for school, he's never found not to have done his homework. He's read himself almost through his parents' library. Then we get to see the memory of the day the first term of his sixth year at school ends.

>> All twenty-six students in Remus' class run out of the classroom after they have emptied their desks and take down their clothes from the peg outside. The class has moved one classroom on. The children are happy because now they aren't the little ones anymore. Remus all but runs home happily. He has six weeks of summer holidays ahead and he looks forward to them. As much as he likes school he does enjoy the vacations as well. He rushes inside of the house and drops his stuff next to the door, then calls:

"Mum! I'm home!" 

Then he rushes up to his bedroom to drop everything on his desk and bed. He races back downstairs and asks:

"Mum, can I ride my bike for a while still?"

"Hi Remus. Just half an hour, then you should come back for lunch. You'll have to pack, we'll be off to England after that."

"Oh. Okay!"

The memory shifts. The Lupins have made themselves comfortable in their house near the forest once again. Remus enjoys a sunny afternoon on a clearing reading a book. He checks his watch and after a while he gets up and returns to the house. He steps inside through the back door to the kitchen and stands still, frozen on the spot. There's a visitor sitting at the kitchen table with his mother and they are talking animatedly. Remus stiffens immediately. This is a stranger, it's England and so far he's only met unfriendly adults here.

"Come inside, please, Remus!" Mrs Lupin calls softly.

She knows what is going on inside of her son. So she pulls him a bit closer, turns to the visitor and introduces the boy.

"This is Remus, Professor Dumbledore. Remus, this is Professor Albus Dumbledore, the new Headmaster of Hogwarts."

Remus' eyes widen. He looks like a walking question mark. But then he remembers his manners and holds out his little brown hand. 

"So you are Remus. I am pleased to meet you, young Mr. Lupin!" says Dumbledore as he takes the proffered hand.

"I'm pleased to meet you, sir."

"And what a delightfully polite young man you are. I am sure you are wondering at who this old fellow is, do you not?" 

**Remus**

So much for accurate memories. Somehow I've had this scene slightly differently in mind. 

>> I see my younger self smile and tripping from one foot to the other. Of course I knew about Hogwarts, but it had been clear from the moment I was bitten that I would never go there. So why did the old codger come here?

"What do you wish from me?" I ask with a small voice.

"I would like to know if you are ready to start your magical education at Hogwarts come September."

I can see my eyes growing even wider, then I'm looking from Dumbledore to my mother and back. I'm unable to say anything. So I look up to mum and silently ask for her opinion. I remember that feeling so well! I had been shocked to the marrow of my bones. Mum nods and says:

"If you want to go to Hogwarts, Remus, then you shall go!" 

I turn back to the Headmaster and say:

"Yes sir, I think I am."

"That is just fine, Remus! In this case I have something for you here," Dumbledore says, pulls the letter out of his pocket and hands it to me. I take it with trembling hands. Then I feel like I have to say something about my lycanthropy:

"But, sir, I'm a werewolf..."

"I know about your affliction, Remus. But rest assured that we have a solution that will keep everyone at Hogwarts, including yourself, safe during your transformations. Only the teachers and the school's nurse, Madam Pomfrey, who will take care of you before and after your transformations will know about you though. I have heard that you have an excellent mind and a good amount of talent, Remus. It would be a shame to waste such talent, do you not think? Your mother tells me that you are doing very well indeed at your school."

"Yes sir, I love to go to school."

"Well, then it is settled. I shall welcome you to Hogwarts on first of September then, shall I?"

I smile the widest smile possible and nod eagerly.

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"

The memory shifts to the same evening at dinner. Papa is coming home and I'm pouncing him with my letter, before he's even halfway inside of the house. When he sees the green ink his eyes widen.

"Remus, is that... a Hogwarts letter?" 

"Yes, papa! I'll go to Hogwarts!"

"I can't believe it! - Fanny! Have you seen that?"

Papa rushes into the kitchen and kisses mum, then she says:

"Yes, of course I did. At three this afternoon the new Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, has come to see us. He has replaced Dippet in the midst of the last term, when Dippet died of a heart failure. I don't think, Dippet would ever have accepted Remus to the school, but you know Dumbledore. So much more interested in everything and he's so open minded."

"Yes, I don't think I'd have understood Transfigurations ever if not for him," Papa laughs.

"Anyway, he told me they would take Remus. Of course he said that there would be precautions, so that Remus can transform safely. We're to go up to Hogwarts to see the procedures in August."

"But that's great! Remus will get a wand and that's a very good thing!"

"It is. Dumbledore has told me that he will clear everything with the Registry. Remus will only have to report there during the summer vacation every two years like until now for the renewal of his registration."

"Papa, are adult werewolves not allowed a wand?" I ask.

"Well, yes, they are, when they have been bitten after their schooling. No one can forbid a fully trained witch or wizard to carry a wand. And as long as they abide the laws they are allowed to have a wand like everyone else. But many have never been allowed a magical education. In fact I don't know if there ever was one before who was allowed to get educated. And without that you're not allowed to have a wand - legally. But that goes for every other witch or wizard as well. You must have a minimum of five years at school and have passed your OWLS to be allowed to keep your wand."

"I see."

The next memory is our shopping trip to the Diagon Alley. I had been prepared to live in the Muggle world completely, so my parents had never taken me there before. Of course it's quite impressive now. I have always worn robes at home, Muggle clothes to school. But now I was fitted at Madam Malkin's shop for the school robes. They were made from a very heavy, yet soft wool fabric, all black. I received a cloak and a pointed wizard's hat.

"What do I wear under the robes, maman?"

"Whatever you like. Jeans or something. You can take your favourite clothes. Rather warm things, because it's usually quite cold at Hogwarts."

We go from shop to shop and of course the two shops I'm most excited about are the wand shop and Flourish & Blotts. At the bookshop I'm allowed two books beyond the ones on the list. Then we head on to Ollivander's. The old man greets us and I'm getting to try the wands until the right one comes up. I will never know for sure, but it felt like Ollivander was giving me a once over very critically and wondering whether he should really sell one of his precious wands to a Dark Creature or not. I felt like he knew what I was and he proved that he did when the wand which responded to me was one made of beech and had a core of a unicorn hair.

Ollivander looked at me strangely and mumbled, while he packed the wand into one of his lovely boxes:

"Curious, curious! Innocence is not reserved for humans alone. You must be meant for good deeds, my boy, because the hair in your wand comes from a unicorn that was a day old foal. The wand chooses the wizard and if this wand has chosen you, I can only expect you to bring innocence and friendship to those who will cross your path. But this is a wand that gains its power from the pureness of the forest and its most innocent inhabitant. They can both be ruthless if they see no other way, so anyone who shall become your enemy must beware themselves."

I still shudder when I remember this. It was the first time since I had been bitten that a wizard who knew what I was, had said something that friendly to me. My hands were shaking when I took the bag containing the box from him. Mum took it and said:

"Why, thank you, Mr. Ollivander, that was a very nice thing to say. I do think that Remus has lost nothing of his innocence, in spite of that bite which has changed his life. I can't even tell you how happy my husband and I were when he got his letter."

"Albus Dumbledore has excellent judgment of people, Mrs Lupin, he certainly knew what he did when he accepted Remus into Hogwarts. I hope you will have a very good time there, young man!"

"Thank you, sir."

With that we left the shop and went back to the Leaky Cauldron to floo back home. Maman wrote to the school authorities in Switzerland to take me out of the Muggle school, because I had been accepted to a boarding school. I sent an owl to Yves about it. He had been accepted to Beauxbatons, and would follow his older sister there when I went to Hogwarts. 

**Sirius**

>> Remus' memories of the weeks before his parents went up to Hogwarts with him are all showing a very itchy child. He's restless and has a terrible transformation in August, which leaves him weak for four days. But then his parents take him to the Three Broomsticks at Hogsmeade, from where they walk up to the school. Remus is deeply impressed and I think, his heart must have beaten twice as fast than normal. Quintus Lupin knocks on the main door. A middle aged teacher opens and introduces herself as Professor McGonagall, the new Transfigurations teacher. She guides the family to Albus' office. 

"Ah, there is our young werewolf. Come inside, please! Quintus, Fanny, it is a pleasure to see you."

"Professor, it's wonderful to see you again. We want to express our gratefulness about Remus being accepted to Hogwarts. We have never told him much about it, because we thought he would never go, but since your visit he's read the complete Hogwarts, A History. Twice!" Quintus says and grins.

"Why, that is wonderful, Remus! But please, you do not need to call me Professor anymore, please call me Albus."

"Thank you, Albus, we will."

"Well, then let us talk about what we have in mind to keep our students, staff and Remus safe on the full moon nights. I would like to show you presently. Is that acceptable to you?"

"Yes, please, sir," Remus says.

"Very well."

Dumbledore leads his guests out of his office and to the hospital wing. 

"There we are. This is the hospital wing, Remus. You are to report here no later than four thirty in the afternoon before the moon rises."

Remus nods and follows Dumbledore inside. Madam Pomfrey comes out of her office.

"Remus, this is Madam Pomfrey. She will be taking care of you. Poppy, may I introduce you to Quintus and Fanny Lupin and your future protégé Remus."

Poppy looks down at Remus and smiles, then she quickly shakes hands with his parents.

"I'm pleased to meet you all! Would you kindly meet with me and tell me what you do to alleviate Remus' pain and tell me how his transformations usually pass? I know very little about werewolves and I'd like to be able to really help him. I hear you are a healer yourself, Mrs Lupin?"

"Yes, I am. I will gladly tell you everything about it. Can we go ahead with the procedure now and then we sit together?"

"Absolutely. I'm taking over from here, Albus, if you wish."

"Yes, Poppy, thank you very much. Would you come back to my office for some tea when you are through this?"

"Yes, Albus, we will be back, thank you!" Quintus says.

Albus leaves them and Poppy turns to Remus:

"Well, little lamb, let me explain this to you then. You can come to me on the afternoon before the moon rises as Professor Dumbledore has just told you. I will guide you through a hidden exit to the place where you can spend the full moon night. It's through here."

She guides the family to the exit and shows them through. Then she leads them to a tree, standing a bit outside of the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Poppy stops in safe distance, then she says:

"If you try to get too close to this tree it will lash out, because it is a Whomping Willow. There is only one way to still it and that's using a long branch like this and prod a knot on the trunk. I will get a little closer now, you see?"

The willow shows its usual bad temper and because all the branches are flailing around the trunk becomes visible. There is a very prominent knot visible on the lower half of the trunk. 

"Yes, I can see it, Madam Pomfrey," Remus says calmly.

"Very well, Remus, now watch what happens when I prod it."

Poppy proceeds to press the stick against the knot. The tree is stilled immediately.

"Come close, quick. Once you're under it you won't be hit anymore!" she calls. 

The Lupins all run under the tree and see that a fairly big hole has opened up beside the trunk. 

"This is the entrance to a secret underground passage, Remus. You will go through it and when it ends you will enter a house. Come along!"

All four get into the hole, slide down and find themselves in a tunnel. Poppy, Quintus and Fanny all light their wands. Then they walk through the passage, which takes them twenty minutes and end up in the Shrieking Shack. 

"This is an old abandoned house on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. It's been prepared that Remus can move inside of it as he pleases, but he will not be able to get out. Not only are all the windows and doors barred it's also been warded so well that no one will be able to remove one of those boards on them. Remus, you'll come inside here and put this trapdoor down, then you won't be able to get out anymore as soon as you are a wolf. Even the most cunning wolf could not lift this particular door. As soon as you close it, a bolt will lock it from the other side. You will have to turn this ring three times to open it again. As a human you can accomplish this most easily, but as a wolf I'm pretty sure you won't be able to do it. Even if you did get into the tunnel you couldn't get out of the willow. So all you have to do once you are in the tunnel is walk in here and close the trapdoor. Then the house is yours. This is the cellar, but if we go up here you find some nicer rooms. We have tidied them up, so it's clean. The house will be cleaned before and after the full moon. When you come around in the morning you can rest in one of these bedrooms here. I will find you here and take you back to the castle. Is that alright?"

Remus nods and says:

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. That is very easy to keep."

"I think so, too. I'm sure you will do well. You have been locked up every full moon since you were bitten, haven't you?"

Remus throws a quick glance to his parents, but nods again.

"Yes, I have."

"Poor sweetheart! I'm so very glad that you are allowed to come to school. Let's go back to the castle now."

She shows the way out again and the memory shifts to when they return to the castle a good half hour later, cleaned up from all the earth that sticks to their clothes. Poppy takes them back to the Headmaster's office, where they are served some tea and biscuits and cake. Remus happily munches on a thick slice of chocolate cake and listens to the adults talking about life and politics. 

After an hour Dumbledore addresses Remus again:

"So, are you all ready to come to Hogwarts then, Remus?"

"Yes, sir, I am."

"That is very good. I do wish you an excellent remainder of the holiday and I shall look forward to see you on 1st September then."

"Thank you, sir."

The memory shifts again. We get to see the Lupin family on the morning of Remus' departure to Hogwarts. The trunk is packed, he drops his monkey into it and closes the lid. He packs some books into his backpack and presents himself downstairs in the kitchen, all dressed and almost ready to go. Fanny makes him sit down and eat a good breakfast, then the family floos to the Leaky Cauldron, from where they take the Tube to King's Cross station. Quintus has taken care of Remus' trunk for the journey to the station. Only when they get to the train he returns the trunk to its intended size. First they find a compartment, where Remus can sit. There are a gaggle of other first years around and Remus takes a seat among them. Quintus returns his trunk to its original size and then he and Fanny take their son outside once more and wish Remus a good trip and a good start of the term. 

"We really wish you all the fun we had at the school, Remus, don't just dig yourself into your studies, meet other children, please. Will you promise that you try to make friends?" Quintus asks.

"I'll try, papa. But I have to keep the secret..." Remus says in a very low voice. 

"Yes, that is going to be difficult. It remains to be seen if you can really keep it up in your dormitory, but do your best for your own sake. You can't use the same excuse as with the Muggles, in the wizarding world that's much too obvious, but I'd recommend to use excuses that you are ill anyway. Just without the reference to the full moon."

"I will do that."

"Any excuse will do. I know it's lying, but for once you will have to do it to keep up the image. We do wish you will be able to finish your education here, because you'd have a much better chance of getting through in your life if you're allowed to use the magic you have. And always remember, Remus, that we both love you and we'll think of you every day," Fanny says.

"I'll owl you tomorrow to tell you what house I'm in," Remus promises.

"Great, Remus! We're looking forward to that! Now go inside, the train leaves in three minutes!"

Remus gets a big hug once more, then he climbs the high steps and vanishes inside of the carriage. He finds his compartment again, takes off his backpack and sits down.

"Hi! I'm Lily Evans. What's your name?" a redheaded girl on the bench opposite of Remus asks.

He looks up.

"Hi Lily. I'm Remus Lupin."

"Pleased to meet you. This is all very exciting, isn't it? A steam engine! I wouldn't have thought that there are still steam engines used in England. Thought they're all electrified or run on diesel these days. But I find it so romantic!"

Remus looks at her a bit closer and asks:

"The way you sound it seems you're a Muggle-born witch, are you?"

"A what?"

"Are your parents non-magical people?"

"Oh, through and through! But they've been so fascinated when I got my letter. Why?"

"Well, my family is all magical. My father is a wizard and my mother is a witch. There's only been witches and wizards in our family for centuries with only the odd squib now and then..."

"What's a squib?" Lily queries.

"Someone without any magical gift born to a magical family."

"Ah, I see. So you know lots of magic already?"

"Not very much. We all start at the same place at Hogwarts. I do know a bit, I mean, I hear my parents cast spells every day. But I only got my wand a few weeks ago and mum made very sure I couldn't get to it before today. You're not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts until you're seventeen, you know..." Remus explains.

There are three other occupants in the compartment, all will be sorted to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw later on. I can see Hope Foster being one of them and a boy who later came to be the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. The third was a boy whose name I can't remember anymore, but who introduces himself, outing himself as another Muggle-born student:

"I was just as excited when I got my letter! My parents didn't think it was real and threw the letter away. The next day there was another letter and then two and then a dozen of them. Then my parents read the thing more thoroughly. And then we were visited by a Professor of Hogwarts who explained about going to Diagon Alley and shop for the equipment. It was great! Oh, my name is Harvey Chapman by the way..."

"Nice to meet you, Harvey."

The memory fades after a while and comes back when the train stops at Hogsmeade. All the first years get out and I can see myself and James being quite far in the front. Remus walks somewhere in the middle of the whole group and gets into a boat with Harvey and the soon to be Hufflepuff boy. Then I see him again in the line of the students, waiting to be sorted. 

**Remus**

What was it again the Sorting Hat said? Oh yes, I remember the conversation now. 

"There is our little werewolf! Welcome to Hogwarts, Remus. Where am I going to place you?"

'I hope, not in Slytherin...' I thought.

"Why on earth would I place you in Slytherin? No, that would not do at all. In fact, I believe you wouldn't last two weeks in that house. No, little one, you can't possibly go there, so never fear."

'I thought, because I'm a Dark Creature...'

"Well, you can be a Dark Creature, Remus, but you know, it's not who you are. Not yet. You choose whether you will become a Dark Creature and until you do Dark Magic you are far away from being a Dark Creature. Didn't your parents tell you that?"

'Yes... kind of, I just had a hard time believing them. So where do I go?'

"Yes, back to the job on hand. Hm. I see a very, very interested and good mind. You love to study, don't you? You're doing your homework well and thoroughly. That would call for Ravenclaw, but then... there's also lots of laughter in your head. You like to be carefree and you know what? It takes so much bravery to even come to school here for someone like you, I think, you should be placed in... GRYFFINDOR!"

>> After the hat shouts Gryffindor I'm getting up very dizzy. This has been a very uplifting little conversation and I know that I will memorise it together with the things Ollivander and Poppy Pomfrey had said. I know now that not only my parents can look beyond my werewolf, but some other people, too, and that helps me a lot. I watch my younger self join the Gryffindor table, grinning happily and sitting down next to Sirius.

"Hi Remus! I'm Sirius Black." 

**Lily**

>> Remus stares at Sirius. Then he holds out his hand and shakes Sirius' and the two of them follow the Sorting. I sit opposite Sirius and look at them, not participating much in their conversation. But they hit off from the start. I remember that evening very well. To me it felt like I was spun into a cocoon, with so much to see and experience that I was dizzy. 

However, I watch as Remus quiets down considerably as soon as James joins the table. James asks Sirius how he has been able to avoid being sorted to Slytherin and Peter wants to know why on earth Sirius thought he'd be sorted there.

"Because all my family has always been there. You have no idea how relieved I am not to be there!"

"I'm glad I don't have to be there, that's for sure..." Peter says.

"Same here. My dad's been in Gryffindor and mum's been a Ravenclaw," Remus says.

"Only a small handful of exceptions and they have all been in Ravenclaw. I must be the first Black to be in Gryffindor," Sirius tells us with a grin.

But I can see that James looks worried. I don't understand at that time, I'll only understand later on. 

We all come out of the Pensieve and notice that Harry and Hermione have come in. They have the twins on their arms and grin.

"Back digging in memories?" Harry asks.

"Yes, we are. Hi there."

"Hi. Are we welcome for the weekend? We'd like to decorate our room."

"Of course! I saw you put the furniture in..."

"Yes, but we've really just dropped it in there. We'll have to organise it a bit now."

"Good!"

We decide to make a stop until after dinner, when the children are in bed. Dinner is a lively affair and we have some trouble with the twins, who are tired and cranky. Sirius and Remus take them to bed and after that we return to the Pensieve. We allow Addie to join us, because these are still pretty nice memories. Harry and Hermione come along for the ride as well. 

Hermione

>> We are in the boys' dorm. It must be their first year, from Remus' point of view. He's already awake and cuddles with his monkey under the warm blankets and comforter. What a cute child he was! If I could I'd step up right now and cuddle him, because he's so sweet. He pushes his sleep tousled hair out of his face and slowly crawls out from under his covers. He wears a pyjama. We see him pulling the curtains of his bed open, then he climbs out of the huge bed. He finds his slippers, picks up his clothes and pads over to the shower. The other boys are still fast asleep when Remus returns, fully dressed, and wakes them up. He waits for them in the common room and they arrive at the Great Hall for breakfast together. 

It's clear to see that they aren't very familiar with each other yet, only James and Sirius seem to be friends already. In the middle of the breakfast the owls arrive with the morning's mail. Sirius gets a blood red envelope and stares at it in shock. It's a Howler and within a moment we hear Mrs Black screech. Sirius stares at it, pale and shocked. He looks like he wants to vanish into the ground. The whole school stares and listens, there are snickers at the Slytherin table and as soon as he hears Mrs Black's voice, Dumbledore aims with his wand and destroys the Howler. 

It's still awful for Sirius. Remus turns to him and says:

"Don't think anything of it, Sirius, the best is to hold up your head high and not react to anything anyone says!"

"Thanks for that, Remus."

One of the prefects gives them their time-tables and they check it to find out what their first subject will be. The four boys take the way back up to the Gryffindor tower under their feet and collect the books they need for the day's lessons. Someone shows them the way to the Transfigurations classroom, where they arrive just in time. 

We get to see several memories from their first months at school. One morning in early December Remus gets a letter from his parents, who have an event Quintus has to attend that takes him abroad and so they apologise and ask if it would be alright for Remus to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas. Remus isn't too happy, because he thinks that all three others would go home. But after James has left early he finds out that Sirius doesn't want to go home for the break:

"I'm staying here! If I go home I'll only get in trouble for being sorted into Gryffindor. So I can just as well stay here. Uncle Alphard has written to me several times already, that is worth more than seeing my mother for five minutes!"

"Oh, then it's not so bad that I have to stay here over Christmas, too. My dad has to go away and mum goes along, it would be a bit difficult to take me along..." Remus says.

Then we see the mostly shared memories of the two boys almost alone in Gryffindor tower. It's fun to see those now in Remus' point of view while we have watched it from Sirius' Pensieve at the end of last year. I still remember quite well how they played and spent their time together in the common room. 

There is lots to write down. Remus dictates it to the dictaquill and says:

"It's going to be fun to compare that to the notes from the memories Sirius has noted down of these events."

"Wonder if you find differences. People usually perceive things very differently from each other."

"And memorise them differently. That's true, it will be interesting to see if and how these memories are noted down differently."

>> Lots of memories in class, in the common room, in the corridors and the Great Hall, outside on the grounds, pranks played. We move swiftly over them, Remus just dictates some of them to the dictaquill and notes them down. Then comes the memory of the first full moon at the school. It's Sunday and when they get up from the table after lunch, Sirius looks at Remus and says:

"You're so pale, Remus, you okay?"

"No, not very well... if it doesn't get better I'll go to the hospital wing."

Which he does a moment later on when he feels himself unobserved. He slips out of the portrait hole and goes down to the hospital wing. We follow him and Madam Pomfrey down to the Whomping Willow and when the moon rises later on he's transforming. It looks pitiful! I want to cry when I see that. I haven't seen him transform without the Animagus yet and here I have to watch how his body gets practically torn apart and put together again into his wolf form. It's terrible. He screams and it's clear to see why. 

Sirius pulls Remus into his arms. Remus closes his eyes. He knows how it feels and looks, he doesn't have to see it. Addie turns to me and buries her face in my robes.

"That hurts so badly..." she sobs.

"It's a memory, Addie, and it's over, Remus doesn't have to suffer like that anymore! We're all very glad for him..." I mumble soothingly.

>> That first transformation all alone and away from home and on his birthday is taking its toll on him. Remus loses conscious after two hours of raging around in the house and we get the memory back when he wakes up in the hospital wing. His wounds are healed, but he looks deathly pale. Poppy Pomfrey looks down on him and says:

"Your mum has warned me and has explained to me what I have to expect, but really, Remus, it's twice as bad as I expected. You poor child, I think you must be one brave and strong little fellow to get through all of this once a month! I admire you."

She caresses his cheeks and holds the small hand for a moment. 

Then Sirius, James and Peter wait for him when he gets back to the dormitory in the evening. He still looks rather out of it. They all ask him:

"What's wrong with you, Remus? You just vanished and when we went to the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey told us that we couldn't visit you!"

"I really wasn't very well. It's getting better now though."

It's all the boys can get out of him, so finally they stop pestering him.

Then we see the same small hand determinedly hold his wand during one of the next Charms lessons and successfully cast his first spells. He does well in all of his subjects, even if it is hard for him to catch up after the full moons.

To watch the four get through their first year is really fun. They become good friends in that time. The day comes when they approach Remus and confront him to tell them about his werewolf. His eyes remind me of a deer caught in the headlines of a car. Instead of the predator he's the venison caught by the wolves. But once they have talked it all through their friendship only grows deeper. 

**Harry**

>> The first train ride of the four together. They talk about their plans for the summer, only Sirius is quiet. He knows what waits for him. Grimmauld Place and his terrifying family. At the station he can just say a quick goodbye to the others, then he gets hauled away and Portkeyed home. 

Remus on the other hand gets the welcome from his parents and time enough to say goodbye to James and Peter, before he, too, is taken back to Switzerland with a Portkey. As soon as he gets there he starts telling them stories about the past year at Hogwarts. His eyes shine when he tells them about his friends. At dinner he gets very quiet though. Mrs Lupin asks:

"Do you want to go to your room, Remus? You look very tired. I know that the full moon will be in three days."

He shakes his head. He remains silent the next morning, too, and now his parents look worried. Fanny strokes Remus over his head and asks:

"What's wrong, love? You sounded so happy yesterday, then all of a sudden you shut down. Did something else happen at Hogwarts that hurt you?"

Remus shakes his head.

"No, mum."

"So what is it then? Your transformation?"

"No..."

"Well, you know that you can tell me everything, love, yes?"

"Yes, mum."

She leaves him alone after that. The memory shifts until after the full moon and only when she has healed all of his injuries he starts to tell her. 

"Maman, my friends... they... they..."

"What is it with your friends? One of them has written you a letter, by the way, it came this morning, but you were still out of it from the transformation."

"Really?" 

Remus' face lights up and is completely changed. 

"Yes, really. So what about them?"

"They know. They figured it out. Sirius did, that is. And he told James and Peter."

"Oh dear. Did they confront you with it?"

Remus nodded.

"But they still want to be my friends, maman. They don't mind."

Fanny smiles. Then she casually summons Remus' letter and gives it to him. But when he reads the letter, his face changes again.

"Bad news?" Fanny asks carefully.

"Mhm. Maman, I think, Sirius doesn't have very nice parents. The first morning, after he's been sorted into Gryffindor, his mother sent him a howler. He was too scared of them to go home over Christmas. And he barely got to say goodbye to us at the station on Friday. I'm afraid that he is hurt. Read this!"

Fanny looks shocked. She knows the Black family of course and once she knows that Sirius belongs to this particular branch of the family she's not too surprised. She's only astonished that the child has been sorted into Gryffindor. We get to read the letter over her shoulder.

"Hi Remus! 

By the time you get this you'll have transformed back, I guess. It hurts to think of what you go through. I've been thinking of you all night and I really hope you are healing quickly.

I got 'home' fast and was duly chastised for the Sorting Hat's decision to put me into Gryffindor. Said the wrong thing, but darn it, I am happy in Gryffindor and just because they hate it I'm not going to lie about that. So I got dad's special treatment. 

Now I can't do much else but read and do my homework. Got any books to share? In the family library I won't find but Dark stuff and I don't want to read that. Besides most of it I'm not even allowed to touch. I suppose that this will be different in the years to come, I'm quite sure that they'll force me to read the stuff. I'm so happy to have Tom here, he's really the only friendly soul around here. I can write to you guys. And Tom takes all letters from Uncle Alphard directly to me, so that my parents don't get to see them. I have to hide them well though. If they knew he's writing to me they'd... sigh!

I can't wait for the break to be over! I only wish I could get out of here, but I'm not allowed outside of the house alone and no one will go with me. Regulus is unbearable. Snickered the whole dinner through, when I got home. I get one more year free of him at Hogwarts...

So I hope you're doing much better than I and enjoy your vacation. I'd be damn happy if you could write back now and then. Will you? 

Hugs

Sirius"

Dear me! Fanny looks even more shocked.

"This sounds awful, Remus! And it's even worse that I don't think there's anything we can do to make it better for him. Except for you to send him books to read."

"I know. And I will. James has told me that Sirius' younger brother Regulus is such a pest that he goes and tells lies about Sirius left and right to his parents and that at least half of the punishments Sirius gets is caused by Regulus' lies. They believe Regulus everything. So I suppose this hasn't started only now. they must have treated him badly ever since."

"'Special treatment'. That sounds like his father beats him up or curses him..."

"I think he gets cursed. Severus Snape made a remark once to rile Sirius up. Something like he could use Sirius' mother's favourite curse on him. Sirius blanched after that. It can't be good news."

"What does this Severus know about that?"

"He's in Slytherin. And he's been one of the children Sirius' mother thought should be friends with him, so she had him and a few others brought into their house to play when Sirius was small. Through Sirius' cousin Bellatrix, who's the same age and also in Slytherin Severus still got invited there regularly when they were at the Hogsmeade primary school. So I suppose Severus has witnessed such a punishment once or twice. Severus came to school knowing more hexes and curses than many a sixth or seventh year, mum!"

"Oh my!"

"I used to think there could not be anything worse than my werewolf transformation, but now I'm not so sure. I mean, I have you and papa and you both love me and you're kind to me, so even if all others would be mean to me I'd still have a place where I can be happy. But Sirius... he has to be away from home to be happy!"

Fanny nods. Then she says:

"Remus, you are an amazing child, do you know that? There's so much love and compassion in you. I'm quite sure that Sirius has felt that already, that's why he writes to you. Will you write back to him?"

"Of course! As soon as I can sit..."

"You have greatness in you, love! Get up when you feel ready. Would you like some soup?"

"Yes, please, maman."

"Coming up..."

Fanny hands the letter back to Remus, who reads it again and then he looks around his room to find out which book he could send to Sirius.

"I'll best ask him first."

As soon as he feels up to it he gets out of his bed, pads to his desk and sits down to write an answer for Sirius:

"Hi Sirius!

I'm sorry to hear you've had an encounter with your parents. I hope you don't mind, but my mum has read your letter. She sends you her love. 

I'm sure I have a lot of books for you to read. But since I don't want to send something you might have read already, I'm adding a small list to this letter. Just hook off what you've read and I'll let you have the others one by one, okay? Never thought I'd serve as your personal library one day...

The transformation is over for this month. It means I'll have to spend three transformations at home, the last one just a couple of days before we return to Hogwarts. But it's okay, it's almost a week, I'll be fine by then. Wouldn't want to miss the train ride with you guys.

There's not much else I can write to you for the moment. Got here well and I'll be out to go to the swimming pool a lot as soon as I'm well enough. In between I'll do my homework and read a lot.

I hope you're well and until the next letter!

Hugs right back

Remus"

He gives the letter to Tom, who is off in an instant.

In the next weeks we see a lot of letters arriving at the farmhouse and Remus eagerly writes letters back to his friends. 

Remus copies some of these letters down to include them into the book. He does it with a fairly bitter smile, because we can see that Sirius mentions the beatings he gets every time, even though he never outright tells Remus about them. 

"He never said anything until he actually left Grimmauld Place," Remus tells me.

"Well, you wouldn't have said anything either," Sirius complains.

"Probably not."

"I knew that I did not deserve their treatment, but at the same time I felt guilty for knowing this, because I thought the way most mistreated children think. I thought that maybe I was that bad and that maybe they were right in putting me down."

>> The Lupins return to England before the August full moon. Remus spends it in the cellar there and after he's recovered they take him to Diagon Alley to shop for his supplies. He's grown a bit and his robes are getting too short. Mrs Lupin passes them to the second hand shop and gets new ones for Remus. On the first of September both parents take Remus to the station to see him off to his second year at Hogwarts. They meet James and his father there. Remus can introduce his friends to his parents. Sirius is there already and he doesn't look any healthier than Remus. 

"Are you alright, Remus? It's only been a couple of days and you're still so pale..."

"You're not looking any better than I, Sirius! What happened?"

"Don't ask! I want to shoot them to the moon, believe me!"

"I believe you. Well, I'm okay, just lost a lot of blood."

Then they're back on the train, share their news and make plans for the coming year. It's discovery time and the four boys make good use of the Invisibility Cloak to sneak around the castle and prank anyone who gets in their way. 

**Sirius**

Memories of Remus' first summer vacation during our years at Hogwarts. I'm almost crying when I see his parents and how they treat him. It's certainly thanks to them that Remus turned out the way he did. They showed him that his life didn't end after the bite. 

Second year was wonderful. We were children, unencumbered by anything, not aware of the danger growing somewhere around us. 

>> One of the next memories shows the four of us in a Charms class. James is showing off his talent, but he's really quite good at the spell we just learned. We can see Lily shrugging and doing it even better than James. He grumbles something and Remus grins. 

There are a couple of memories like that. They spread from September to early December, when James, Peter and Remus write home that they would like to stay at Hogwarts. 

>> We sit at the breakfast and watch as the owls come in. James and Peter get their replies. James reads the letter and grins. 

"I can stay. Mum and dad will go on a vacation, because I want to stay here," he says. 

"My parents say 'no'," says Peter and looks disappointed, "they say I have to come home, because they want the family together at Christmas."

"Oh shucks! Would have been great, if we could have been all four together."

The memory shifts to the next evening when Remus' parents' owl raps on the window of the dormitory. He picks the letter from the owl and reads it quickly. He smiles and passes the letter on to my younger self. I read it again over my own shoulder.

"Dear Remus,

We will certainly allow you to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, if that's what you would like to do. But know that we will miss you a great deal and our Christmas will be a little less happy. Write back to us and tell us which of your friends are staying there, too, please.

We're of course happy that you want to be with your friends, and you will see that it is a wonderful thing to have them. Cherish them, Remus! But I know I don't need to remind you of this, you surely do that anyway.

Is there something in particular you'd like for Christmas? Tell us that, too!

Lots of love and a tight hug

Your maman and dad."

"Your parents are so nice, Remus!" my younger self tells my friend. 

I have to admit that I was mighty jealous of him for having such a wonderful pair of parents. James' were cool, too, but the Lupins meant warmth, love, security. Anything a child out of a family like mine lacked. I wonder what would have become of Regulus had my parents treated us differently. 

**Remus**

I smile at the letter. My parents were so torn between wanting me back home and letting me go. But they recognised how important it was for me to build up a network of friends. People who would like me for who I was, not for what I was. 

We're in and out of the Pensieve, writing down everything we can see and even if we produce a flood of facts, we'll have a lot to pick from, which will give us a whole new image of our own lives. Second year was bliss, only the transformations worried me. But unlike my dorm-mates the other students didn't seem to notice a pattern in my disappearances. For them it was easy to hold up an image of being ill that often, especially since I had my friends to cover a lot for me. But it also led to problems at the end of the year:

>> It's about a month away from the end of the school year. A memory shows me walking down the stairs to the dungeons for a potions class. I'm early, because it's the first class in the afternoon after the full moon. I'm looking as tired and beaten as usual after my transformation and so I don't notice the group of boys that approach me on my way. I jump when an icy voice talks to me from behind.

"Oh, look! It's the sick boy! He who never seems to be healthy at all. I wonder what they do with him up there in Gryffindor tower! He must be the toy for them, don't you think?" 

It's Evan Rosier. He's with Rodolphus Lestrange and Severus Snape. The others snicker and Severus continues:

"And he never says a word! Hey, cat got your tongue, Lupin? Where are your stupid friends?"

I try to just ignore them and walk on to the classroom, where I sit down and make myself ready for class. The Slytherins have followed me and continue to taunt, but I keep my mouth shut. It takes about five minutes, then Sirius, James and Peter come into the class room. Lily is right behind them and she hears the Slytherins:

"Lupin, you can't keep your mouth shut forever. You're just a weak little thing! Can't stand up for yourself, you have to wait for your friends, don't you? Poor little baby Lupin, ever so thin and tiny..."

Lily comes into the classroom and hisses at them:

"Oh so big with your dirty mouths, aren't you? Picking at one who's alone, while you're three! I call that cowardice of the worst."

Sirius and James stare after her. She sits down in her usual spot, watching as Peter and James take a seat a table behind her and Sirius joins me on the table next to her. 

"What was that about?" he asks.

"Just their usual stupid taunts. I'm ignoring them."

"You do that, but you will see where it gets you, Remus. Soon they won't only taunt you, they'll start cursing you, because they think you're a push-over."

"That will be early enough to do something more drastic about it. Like having them punished. If I get cursed by them I will end up with Madam Pomfrey, and you know what she thinks of me."

Sirius grins.

"She thinks you're the sweetest little boy anyone could ever meet!"

"Precisely. And if I tell her what happened she'll be quick to tell the headmaster." 

It didn't take very long. I was mostly around with my friends, but there were the odd times when I had to go somewhere alone.

>> Barely three weeks later, just after the exams I have to take something down to Hagrid's cabin. On my way back to the school I can smell something wrong, but just before I can draw my wand I can feel a curse hitting me from behind. It's the full body bind and not ten seconds later Snape, Rosier, Avery and Wilkes come running and roll me into the water of the lake. I get scared, because this is getting really dangerous. Luckily for me they have been seen by Hagrid, who is still outside. He comes running and pulls me out of the water, but the four Slytherins are gone already. 

It was awful! I really had been very close to drowning and when I finally came to at the hospital wing, Dumbledore sat next to my bed. He looked sad and even a bit angry.

"What happened, Remus? Hagrid has found you in the lake, held by a full body bind."

"I went to take something to Hagrid and on my way back I was cursed. They pushed me into the lake."

"Do you know who did this?"

"I don't know who cast the curse, but it was Wilkes, Rosier, Avery and Snape."

"This is not exactly a schoolboy prank anymore. And it's a grave accusation you are making, but Hagrid saw the boys vanish and he named the same boys. I had a hard time believing they could do this, they're only second years, but you corroborate what Hagrid said. They will be punished for this." 

Later we hear how the four are punished. They would not be allowed to go to Hogsmeade come third year for all of the year and two hundred points were taken from Slytherin. But I think, Dumbledore must have done some talking to them.

Sirius and James took that incident very badly. They were both so angry about the Slytherins! I implored them not to do anything stupid and luckily the beginning of the vacation ended the incident.

The next series of memories are partly Sirius' and partly mine. I take a deep breath before going into the Pensieve this time. We hold hands while we look at the memories. 

>> The same thing as after the first year happened again this time. His mother was there waiting for him and Portkeyed him away within two minutes after leaving the train. My parents, James' parents and even Peter's parents stare after them. My mother blinks and says:

"Oh my! Poor Sirius! Do you think there is a chance that we could invite him to give him some relieve from his family?" she asks the Potters.

"None. We have tried quite a few times, while he went to Hogsmeade Primary with James. They wouldn't ever allow it. I think that the poor boy has to spend his whole break at their place. Somewhere in London," Mrs Potter replies.

"That's so sad!"

"He looked as bad as I do after a full moon when we came back to Hogwarts after the last summer vacation, mum," I tell my parents.

"I know that his parents aren't exactly kind with him, I've met them a few times. He might be even worse off next year, because his younger brother will also start Hogwarts," Mr. Potter says.

Since no one is in a hurry, our parents decide to have dinner together, which gives James and me more time together. The Pettigrews bid goodbye and leave from the station. Our parents shrink our trunks and things and take us to the Leaky Cauldron for a nice dinner. 

"This would be so much better, if Sirius could share it with us," James remarks.

"I think so, too. I miss him already."

"We'll write to him often! I sent him a couple of comics last year, and there's still a lot he hasn't read, so I can send him some more."

"I'm sending him books. He read at least ten last summer!" 

"Wow. Then he must be really bored!"

The memory shifts. Sirius and his mother arrive at Grimmauld Place. Sirius vanishes up to his room as quick as he can. We can see that he gets out of his school robes, which he hasn't bothered to take off and puts Tom's cage down, letting the owl out and fly to his perch. 

"We're all alone again, Tom. This is going to be very long again. I wonder what summer is like? It's not like I can go outside and see for myself and there's hardly any sun coming in here..."

Sirius drops on his bed and spends most of his summer reading. I have already given him a few books, which we have wisely camouflaged, so they wouldn't be recognised as Muggle books without opening them. 

He goes down to the dining room just in time for dinner. His father takes notice of his return with a sneer and his brother starts his taunts the moment Sirius sits down. 

"Can't you shut up for a minute, Reg?" Sirius asks, irritated.

As soon as he can he leaves the table and returns to his room with some food for his owl. At least they seem to leave him alone in his room. 

The next memory is a few weeks later. My parents have allowed me to visit James for the two weeks over new moon to the first quarter of the moon in July. The Potters are very kind to me and James and I enjoy a lot of fun, spend most of our time outside flying our brooms. James is determined to get into the Quidditch team, so we train with the Quaffle. Sometimes Marcus Potter, James' dad, plays along as a Keeper. 

"You're going to try out for the team then, James?" I ask him at dinner one evening.

"Of course! I hope I get in. There are two Chasers leaving, and there's only been one reserve last year, so I might have a chance."

"You should try out as well, Remus, you are a very good flyer," says Mr. Potter.

"Oh, I wouldn't dare! What if a match falls on a full moon? Much too far out in the open for me."

"It's a shame that you have to hide your condition. It's outrageous that people like you are treated that way. As soon as people know about your werewolf they treat you as if you would kill them the next second. You shouldn't have to think of something like this and just go and try out for something you'd be very good at, Remus."

"I know. But I can't change it, so there's not much I can do. I'll just support James!"

"It makes me mad, too, Remus," James says.

But that's really the only shadow on my summer break and we both enjoy our time together a lot. We tell Sirius and we do tell him in our frequent letters what we are up to, but we know it hurts him even more, because he can't be with us. 

**James**

>> In the next memory we're back at Sirius'. He opens the window to let Tom in, who brings him a letter from Remus and I. He smiles when he opens the letter. We have made it extra long, so he has something to read. But as soon as he's through it the smile vanishes from his face and is replaced by a dull expression. 

He looks bad. I'm sure he has landed himself with several beatings from either of his parents, but they aren't even turning up in his memories anymore. He has dark rings under his eyes and because he's not allowed out of the house his skin looks pale, almost translucent. 

"At least James and Remus have fun for a while, Tom. If I could only get out of this house."

But he seems to be stuck. One of the next memories shows Sirius getting the Hogwarts letter. His marks are fabulous, he is in the top five of every subject, but that doesn't seem to impress anyone in his family. He is quite happy though. 

The pile of letters he's received from Peter, Remus and I as well as from his uncle Alphard is growing rapidly. He gets a visit from Andromeda, the oldest of his three cousins, but she has a bit of bad news:

"Hi Sirius. I'm coming to say good-bye. They have decided that I'm not welcome anymore here in the house and at home."

"Why? Because you and Ted want to get married?"

"Of course. Ted is a Muggle-born as you know. So if you want to stay in contact, send Tom now and then and I'll write to you, okay? They'll know my owl and probably intercept the mail."

"It's half a miracle I still have Tom at all. He's really my only friend here now. I'll miss you, Andy."

"I'll miss you, too, Sirius. Hang in there, okay?" 

Andromeda hugs Sirius and rocks him softly and comfortingly. It's easy to see that he's close to crying. She caresses him over the head and says:

"Don't let the bitch get the better of you, Siri. She's a bloody little nuisance and nothing more, just like Regulus, only worse."

"I won't. I've been third best over all last year, Andy. She must be way below that... and you know what? They didn't even take notice of my good marks. Sometimes I don't know why I even keep trying."

Andy grins.

"Well done! Tell uncle Alphard, I'm sure he'll be very pleased to hear it."

"I have and he was. Even Phineas didn't have anything to complain."

Then Andromeda looks serious again.

"Do keep trying, Siri, simply for yourself. There are others out there who love you, that's your friends, and uncle Alphard, myself and Ted... those people are worth ten times as much as your immediate family. You can't pick your family, but you can pick your friends, and yours are really great friends."

"They're the best, Andy. I miss them so much."

"That's something you can't change now, Siri, but one day you will be able to, and that day isn't so far away anymore! Now I have to go. I'm glad they even allowed me to say goodbye to you, I thought they'd just throw me out of the house. And I know that you're stuck in here. But if you can sneak out I would meet you in the park and show you the way to where Ted and I live. Maybe you can manage to come by sometimes. I'll be there every afternoon at two until you can come."

"That would be great. I'll work something out."

After Andromeda's leaving he has truly no one left on his side but his owl. The memory shifts back to Remus, who has to leave us and return to Switzerland. He's happy though and even though the full moon awaits him he seems to feel better than ever before. The memory shows us Remus after his transformation. Mrs Lupin has healed him and he's happily eating his soup. While he eats he tells her everything we've done during the two weeks he was at our place. 

We're rushing through a flood of memories through this break. Remus returns to England with his mother for the shopping trip to the Diagon Alley, where he meets Peter and I.

>> Remus looks quite well. We have fixed this trip to do our shopping well before we have to go back to Hogwarts, because the full moon will be just four days before we leave for school. To make sure, Remus is still in good spirits Mrs Lupin meets up with us four days before the moon. 

"Have any of you heard from Sirius in the last week?" Remus asks.

"Nothing. I'm really worried. Who knows what kind of misfortune he's met now," my younger self says. 

"He's written to me about six times since the end of last school year," Peter says, "that's more than ever before."

"But nothing for a whole week! I'm worried, too!" Remus insists.

"It's certainly not a good sign. But we have to do the shopping," I hear myself take the lead. 

As we come out of the apothecary to walk to our final destination Flourish & Blotts we meet Sirius, who is with his mother and younger brother. He looks worse than Remus after a transformation. And he doesn't even acknowledge us. I'm not too astonished, after all he's with his mother, but still, all three of us are shocked.

"At least we know he's still alive. And since his mother takes him shopping he'll be back at Hogwarts at least..." Peter remarks.

"But that's about the only positive thing! Have you seen how he looks?" Remus asks.

"Not good. But that's no reason to not even greet us!" Peter says.

"Well, I don't think you'd greet unwelcome friends if your torturer is right there with you!" James yells at Peter.

"Really, Peter, he looks that way because he's with his 'family' - personally I start to wonder who the monster would be; myself or Sirius' parents!" Remus says.

The memory shifts to Sirius. It's again Grimmauld Place and he's in the library, looking outside with longing. He sighs, gets up and goes to try again to be allowed outside at least for an hour or two. 

"Mum, can't I go outside to the park, please? I'm not going to play with Muggles, I just want to get out and some fresh air. Please!"

"I know what you do as soon as I let you out, Sirius. The answer is no. And don't you dare sneaking out!"

Sirius hangs his head, turns around and walks back up the stairs to his room. He drops down on his bed, but as he makes contact with the mattress he winces. He knows that on this day there's no way he can sneak out.

But two days later he tries. And gets out of the house. He quickly walks around the next corner and to the park. Andromeda waits for him there. He grins and is happy to see her. It's early afternoon, so she says:

"I'll show you how to come to me through the Muggle Tube, Sirius. I'll give you the Muggle money you'll need if you ever want to come over. Not this year anymore, but you're growing and soon it shouldn't be such a big problem anymore. Here, we need to go to the nearest station."

Andromeda shows him how to buy the ticket and what train he has to take. It's an adventure for Sirius, who never gets out of that dreadful house. Fortunately it is a sunny day, so he really enjoys his little excursion. Andromeda hurries though, to get him back again before tea. She knows if he's late he'll be punished. She shows him the way from the Tube station to her flat. They have time for half an hour of talking, then it's already time to get Sirius back home. Andromeda accompanies him again. She can't go all the way to the house, but leaves him around the corner. Sirius sneaks back inside, but as soon as he's there he gets caught.

"What did I tell you about sneaking out, Sirius Black? Where have you been?"

"You said I was not to sneak out, but that was the day before yesterday. And I've been to see Andromeda."

He looks straight into the wand, which is pointed at him. He grits his teeth when his mother hits him with the boxing hexes. She doesn't stop before he slumps down on the floor.

The memory shifts and we're with Sirius after he has woken up again. He sighs and winces. The blows have gone to his whole body, only sparing his face. He weeps silently. Once again I'm wondering what kind of people his parents were. Who would hurt their own child this way? 

Another shift of the memory shows Sirius and Regulus on the day they leave for Hogwarts. Both have their trunks and owl cages ready. Sirius looks a bit better, but I suppose his worst bruises and wounds must have been healed. There's still a lot of pain in his eyes. The boys are handed a Portkey to the platform, both parents apparate there. Sirius ducks away from them immediately. He doesn't even say goodbye, he takes a straight line for the train and vanishes inside. 

Just a moment later we shift to Remus' memory of our arrival. He's come to my place the night before and we are both together with my parents. Remus discovers Sirius' mother, but no Sirius is around. We can see Regulus being gently shoved into the train and then the Blacks disapparate. 

"Uh, oh... no Sirius," my younger self mumbles.

"Maybe he's inside already. I'm sure he got out of their way as soon as he could," Remus says.

"Possible. Let's take this inside and look!"

Both of us say goodbye to my parents, who hug both of us, then we get inside of the train. Walking through it from the end, we find Sirius in the third compartment of the last carriage, brooding there all alone. Remus opens the door with a huge smile.

"Hey, Siri! It's so good to see you again, we were so worried, because we hadn't heard from you for so long!"

Sirius looks up and grins. His whole countenance changes and he looks alive again.

"I'm sorry for not even saying hello in Diagon Alley, but she would have gone crazy if I had..."

"It's okay, we thought it was something like that."

"Wish I could have gone with you guys. But she wouldn't let me out at all. I sneaked out just to go to the park a couple of times."

"Poor Sirius!" Peter says, closing the compartment door behind himself.

"I had to get away from them before they hung Regulus on my back! The brat can find his probably soon to be Slytherin friends, he doesn't need me."

"Well done," my younger self says.

And then the memory moves to Remus' impression of the sorting. Regulus is the fifth child to be sorted. The hat isn't on his head for more than ten seconds, when it announces him a Slytherin. Sirius snorts. 

"They'll be happy that at least one of us could follow in the family's ways. I really wish I could get away from them."

"You will - one day you don't need to go there anymore!" Remus assures him. 

**Saturday, 25.9.1999 / Remus**

This has been another pretty long day. We've worked on those memories for most of it. Now I'm dog tired, but there are our little ones, who need to go to bed first. I'm taking care of Seraina, put her in her pyjama and help her brush her teeth, then she wants her bedtime story, so I take her up to her room, where she picks the book and the two of us make ourselves comfortable on a big pile of pillows and blankets in one corner of her room. She places herself on my lap and we look at the book, which is not yet a real reading, as most of the contents of the book is only pictures, but I'm talking to her about them, she looks with her eyes and follows the contours of the objects in the pictures with her finger. 

After about five minutes she's almost asleep. I offer her the pacifier, which she sucks in and then I put her favourite teddy bear in her arms, kiss her and put her into the bed. By the time I've covered her, the little one is fast asleep. How I love her! She's quite demanding when she's awake, but once she's tired, she goes to sleep without any problem. 

Denny is almost as good. Sirius caresses him for a few minutes and then he can get up and leave the room. Both of us are very thankful that the children sleep so easily. And we both hope it lasts for a while longer.

We return to the living room and to our work on the memories. Our pile of notes is growing and we know we'll have to drop many little things and shorten things by far. But I'm reading over them and I understand the therapy part for Sirius. This is a lot that he has most probably thought completely lost. Many things he can see from my point of view, but I've heard him gasp a little quite a few times through those last memories, when they showed the happier parts. The visualising brings them back to him, too.

Sirius and I fill the Pensieve with memories from the first days back at school of our third year. 

>> We're sitting in the train and plan a couple of pranks. Sirius looks much more alive again, now that he's out of the clutches of his mother. He doesn't look particularly good though. He's pale and seems to be rather tired. 

"They leave me alone - well, most of the time anyway, but I'm not allowed outside and it's very hard to sneak out, because someone seems to always watch the door. It makes me almost crazy to spend almost all of my summers locked into that house! It's like a bloody prison!" Sirius moans.

"You're getting older, Sirius, soon you'll be able to leave them for good!" my younger self says.

"Still so long until then, Remus! I'll need to have a job before I can really get away from them. And I'll never go back to them ever once that's the case!" 

"Until then let's spend the time with a bit of mischief," James says. 

"Like what?" Peter asks.

"I don't know yet. But how about getting the help of the house-elves for a bit of food 'poisoning' for the Slytherins? Something that will turn their faces an ugly shade of neon green..." James suggests.

"That's a good one. I don't think we've done that yet. We'll have to find the necessary potion though."

"Shouldn't be much of a problem, matter of looking it up in the library..." Sirius says with a dismissive shake of his hand.

"As long as it doesn't hurt them any other way I'm in," I say.

"Then we need some good new hexes when Snape attacks us! He's brought up so many of them it's scary!" James mutters.

"He's seen a good few before he even came to Hogwarts. And he's learned them easily, because Narcissa gave him her wand quite regularly," Sirius tells us.

"I really wonder why they so like to be cruel to others. I mean, how much pleasure can you get from seeing someone suffer under your treatment? I think it's really sick!" my younger self muses.

"I have no idea. I only know that the kids in my family's circle see lots of it and get to feel lots of it," Sirius says.

The memory shifts to the Welcoming Feast at Hogwarts. The Sorting is already through and everyone is busy eating as much food as they can. It must be Sirius' memory. He's looking over at me. I'm sitting opposite of him, next to Peter. Lily is on my other side. She throws some pretty nasty glances over to James, who looks at her with a bit of a different attitude as the years before. 

We all grin. He's been falling for her in his third year! But then he hasn't found out yet, that he might have to work a bit to get closer to the lovely Miss Evans. Lily now interprets that look on James' face differently as well and is amused. Sad, too, at least a little.

"Could have saved us all a lot of trouble if I had recognised you mean what you expressed on your face, James..." she mumbles.

"Oh, Lily, that's so sweet of you to say! Love you for it, really!" James remarks, pulling his wife close.

I think she'd blush if a ghost could do that.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to go to bed now. I'm pretty tired from all of this..." I say.

We're all off to bed. And we know that we'll continue tomorrow and then on Monday until we're through looking at those memories. It will take a while still. There's so much that shows up in the Pensieve, but the good thing is that we won't write things that didn't actually happen. Our Hogwarts years were such an integral part of our lives that we can't just step over them in one short chapter. Though we could probably make a very funny book up with the 'Tales of the Marauders' alone. It makes me grin, but then I wouldn't want to take this out of the story of our lives at all. This book will need some comic relief.


	17. Waiting for a bundle of joy

**Saturday, 16.10.1999 / Parvati**

Just another year - then my training as a healer will be completed. I'm really looking forward for the time when I'll be able to choose what to do. Will I go and become a healer on my own or will I join another hospital like St. Mungo's? I have no idea yet. Draco thinks of moving to France to live near Dragon's Tales. I think that would be a good idea. I won't be through with my education before Dragon's Tales opens its doors, but I might become the company healer, I'm quite sure there's lots to do in that field there. 

Saturday. It's almost the end of my shift today. I've been through lots of training with patients in the first weeks of the second year of my training. In fact I've got a really heavy head from all the spells I've learned in the past two weeks. Diagnostic spells for general check-ups have been the main focus, so I'm now doing precisely only that during my Saturday shift. General check-ups are only done on Saturdays, not on Sundays. I'm off tomorrow and on Monday and I can't say I mind. Draco's waiting at the Sunnegg for me to return tonight, we want to go out. 

My wand glows brightest yellow when I check a young woman. I have to check the table for this kind of yellow upon my lung checking spell. Oh dear! That's not good. To make very sure, I'm repeating the spell, but the result is the same. My supervisor looks at me and nods. She has done the spell on her own and I'm trying to remember what exactly it will mean.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Snatch, I'll have to pass you over to the second floor, the Magical Bugs department. Please take this information to the healer-in-charge there, Madam Herriot, she'll be able to diagnose you more completely than we can do here," I explain to the patient while I quickly scribble the necessary information on a small parch-pad and rip off the sheet. I show it to my supervisor for confirmation and she nods again.

"That is correct, Parvati."

I pass the sheet to Mrs Snatch, she takes it, sighs and leaves. She's the last one I have to check today. I'm very happy to leave now. I've seen quite a lot of patients today. A general check consists of a short question/answer part, where we inquire about the patient's impression of their own health, then we start casting the spells, one for the skeleton, one for the blood, one for the brain and finally all the organs, one by one. If we find something we hand the patients to the respective departments or recommend special healers. If not, we're able to give the patients a clear bill of health.

St. Mungo's has to do this for all the wizards and witches who can't afford to go and see a private healer. There's still quite a few of those up and down the country. We also function as trusted healers for many wizarding institutions to check over their prospective or hired staff. Sometimes an employer wants to be sure about the health of a future co-worker, so they can send them to us for a check-up and we can give them a written bill of their health. Today I've had a case of a werewolf who applied for a job at the Ministry. The Ministry of course can check the Werewolf Registry, but they aren't asking anymore. It's one of the few things that has made life a little easier for werewolves. Mandy has fixed the date with this particular werewolf to have him checked when I'm here. Registered werewolves who are keeping a close contact with the Support Unit are now allowed to keep quiet about their affliction if they so desire. Which is why Mandy has sent him today. She knew I was working today and I'd keep his secret. So I was able to give him a clear bill of health with a wink. The man will not be found out if he takes his Wolfsbane potion regularly. He'll only be a bit tired once a month.

Apparating home I'm thinking what a blessing this potion is. Now that Mandy is after it she has a couple of potions researchers working on an improvement of the potion. She thinks there should be a way to reduce the amounts of doses. Hermione already found the way to improve it taste-wise through the Aspartame. This has been noted and all written recipes contain her extra ingredient by now. 

"Hey!" 

Draco wakes me up. I look up, but he's got me in his arms before I can really register I'm home. His lips are on mine the moment I do notice where I am. We kiss and when he lets go he grins.

"You've been somewhere else, love, I wonder where?"

"Nowhere important, Draco, just thought about things at work today. - Hey, I've also been thinking about when I'll be through with my training... I could work for Dragon's Tales. You'll surely have to have a couple of trained healers around there..."

"That's a jolly good idea! In fact we will have a healer who will start when we open up. And we'll need at least two or three more. So you can expect to have a job after your training."

"Great. That should be a possibility to work even if we'd like a baby..." I offer.

He stares at me. 

"Do you want that?" he asks in a small voice.

"Of course I do! Don't you?"

He grins again. 

"Who am I to say no to an heir, Parvati? Honestly, I think I really do want children. But only after you're finished with your training and after we have Dragon's Tales started up and working."

"Perfect. That gives us a little more time for ourselves. My training is going tougher now. My head seems to be spinning with all those spells I've learned in the past two weeks. I'll go through all levels now to see all the different wards and learn the spells needed to take care of those patients. And I know now that while Madam Pomfrey is super good as a healer, she's getting a rather limited sort of clientele. You wouldn't believe what's passing through St. Mungo's!"

"You can give me an idea when we're out... let's go and change!" Draco says.

"Yes, I'm already on the way," I reply, untangle myself from his arms and turn to go over to our side of the house. "Someone coming with us tonight?"

"Mandy and Jason. And Harry and Hermione. I've booked a table for eight in any case, so if anyone else comes along, there will certainly be space enough..."

"Good."

I'm taking a quick shower, wash my hair and when I'm nicely refreshed I'm wrapping a towel around myself and dry my hair with a spell. Brushing it always takes a while, because it's so long. Then I apply my magical make-up and go back to our room to get dressed. 

"Draco?!" I shout.

He apparates in.

"You called, my lady?" he asks with a ridiculous chivalrous gesture.

He makes me grin, but I manage to ask:

"Where are we going at all?"

"Hogsmeade has a new nightclub. Can you believe it? There's a nightclub in Hogsmeade. Anyway, it's offering dinner and dance, so I thought that would be quite nice, don't you think?"

"Oh, yes, that's a good idea. So, what am I putting on then...? - What are you wearing?"

"The dark smoke grey dress robes with the silver and blue sparkles..." he informs me.

Good. Then I pick a set of turquoise dress robes that compliment his smoke grey ones. When we're dressed up we meet the others in the living room. 

"Hi Parvati. Work okay today?" Mandy asks.

"Yes, I think so. Your guy turned up promptly, by the way."

"Is he okay?"

"Perfectly healthy. We've given him a clean bill of health."

"Good. He needs that job. He's been looking for work for a year now. He says he'll inform his supervisor of his lycanthropy, but only when they are convinced he's doing his job right. I promised to assist him in that when and if he needs me to."

"You're doing a great job there, Mandy!"

"I love my work..." 

"Are we meeting Jason directly in Hogsmeade?" Draco asks.

"Yes. He's working today, so he said he'd apparate right up to the place," Mandy confirms.

She looks lovely tonight. She's got her brown hair open and wears dark crimson dress robes. Harry and Hermione turn up. Both wear forest green dress robes. Hermione has her dark grey wool cloak over her arm. She's getting really round and says:

"Well, we're ready. This marks the last weekend I can actually apparate! After that I have to stay at home! I'll return right to Grimmauld Place tonight and take over my room there. That will at least allow me to attend my lectures at uni..."

"That's why I've invited you, madam," Draco says, grinning.

"You know, that sort of takes us a huge step closer to the birth," Harry remarks. 

"Hi all! Wow, you're all looking swell! Where are you off to?" Ron asks.

He and Justin have just apparated in. They've been off on some outing today.

"To that new nightclub in Hogsmeade. We have two more reserved spaces, want to come along?" Draco asks.

"You mean, that Hog's High Night thing?" Justin asks.

"Exactly."

"Wow! I've heard that it's still quite difficult to get access to it! How long will you give us to make up?"

"Five minutes!" Draco says.

"We're in!" Ron grins, apparates over to their room and Justin follows him, laughing.

We wait for another couple of minutes, but after only ten minutes both of them are back again, both in neat black dress robes. 

"Fastest shower we ever took together," says Ron.

"Shut up and apparate! That was way too much information!" Mandy says and smacks him over the head.

"It's true though! No need to ruin my hair-do, you know!"

We all laugh and apparate over to Hogsmeade, where we meet Jason who's waiting for us in front of the entrance to the place. He pulls Mandy into an embrace and kisses her. Then we all go inside. Draco presents himself and we are being led to our table. 

The menu offers a good choice of foods. We pick our dishes and then the conversation turns to what we're doing at the moment. There's a lot of bantering and joking and of course a lot of laughing.

"How do you feel, Hermione? Can't be that long anymore now, can it?" Jason asks.

"Well, it's still seven weeks. I stop apparating now. It gets a bit difficult. And I'm really getting round... won't keep me from a bit of dancing though!" she says.

Jason laughs.

"You're still looking very good, don't worry! And I'm sure Harry thinks so, too."

"Not that I'm insecure in that department, Jason. After all he wants it as much as I do. We're just both wondering who will provide the friends for our kids to accompany them to Hogwarts?"

"We might... though not for this one of course," Draco says.

"Really? You're thinking of having a child?" Harry asks.

"Not before I'm through training, but right after... sure," I confirm.

**Hermione**

"That's great!" I say.

I wonder how they'll fare as parents, but I could imagine that they'd do quite well. And Draco certainly looks smug about the prospect of an heir. I'm quite sure he'd like the family name to live on. 

Once the meal is over we start getting up and dance. I can't for too long, but I'm determined to enjoy this last evening out for a long time. I expect to stay home and look after our child for a while, but Harry is equally determined not to leave me alone with this. The little one is kicking quite a lot now and Harry loves to feel the movements. We still don't know the gender and we don't want to know either. I feel that this would be like opening a Christmas present before Christmas! So we've chosen girls' names and boys' names.

"I love you..." Harry whispers into my ears, while he pulls me as close as he can with the bump between us. 

I have to watch my steps carefully and get it wrong at times, but we only laugh about that, because my balance has changed so much. At eleven we join the others at the table. Ron and Justin are both still dancing.

"Well, we have to go. I need my sleep these days."

Harry and Draco exchange a few looks, Harry grins and I ask:

"Who am I thanking for the wonderful evening?"

"Draco!" Harry says.

"Thanks, Draco! That was really a lovely evening."

"You're very welcome. Needed to celebrate that last time you can go out before the little one makes an appearance."

"You're right about that. Have a nice evening everyone!"

"You too, Hermione. We'll be seeing you at Grimmauld Place occasionally..."

"That would be nice."

Harry gets my cloak and we say goodbye to the others. Then we apparate to Grimmauld Place. That's the last time I'm apparating for a couple of weeks. Luckily the Academy is just two stops on the Tube away and the same goes for the Diagon Alley. Everything else that I need to reach I can reach either by Floo or Muggle transportation. Though I'll shun the Floo, because with my big belly I really don't like to spin around the way Floo forces me to. If need be I can always call a taxi. Probably I won't need to move around at all, after all our needs are all covered by the house-elves at Grimmauld Place. 

**Sunday, 17.10.1999 / Hermione**

Today we're going to see mum and dad. We're taking a taxi to Greenwich, which doesn't take all too long. Mum has invited us over for lunch. I haven't been to see them very often in the past few weeks, because we're quite busy at the Academy. 

"Hello, my dears! It's so lovely to have you here!" mum welcomes both, Harry and I.

"Hi, mum. It's nice to come over. We'll stay at Grimmauld Place until the baby is born now."

"That's great!"

"You can come and visit, though you'll have a hard time seeing the place. It's unplottable and therefore even invisible for wizards. But we'll take you there once and once you've actually seen it you will see it again. Kind of like the Leaky Cauldron..." I explain.

"Oh, that's a relief. Because I can go there now and I see that one every time."

"That's what Grimmauld Place is like. It's in the middle of Muggle houses. The place isn't too pleasant, but the house is great now. It used to be so dark and depressing, but Remus and Sirius have had it renovated and every wall in there is white! Lots of colour to go with the white on the walls, too. It looks really nice," Harry says.

While we eat lunch mum inquires after the pregnancy.

"You look well, Hermione. Are you feeling well?"

"Very well, mum! Once my morning sickness was over it got really good. Now I just have a bit of a back ache sometimes and sometimes my feet are a bit very big, but nothing that doesn't go away if I hold up my legs a bit. The healers at the Maternity Ward are very good."

"What do they do? I'm interested in how it's done in that magical world of yours..." dad asks.

"Well, there are a couple of spells. Routine diagnostic spells, about six of them. They do that and if everything's okay we just talk about how I feel and so for a moment, then I'm dismissed. From now on I'll have to show up every two weeks."

"And the birth? How will that go?"

"Same as with Muggles, mum. We're also doing about the same kind of preparation. Harry and I show up at the Ward for regular Lamaze classes, breathing techniques and the likes... there's even a wizarding La Leche League. So this is a thing that's going very similar. Of course there would be pain killing spells in stead of chemical stuff. They also have spells to induce the birth if necessary. That's of course a lot better than the chemical ways. Harry will be with me, but I'd love it if we could have you there as well, mum."

"Can I get there?"

"Sure, why ever not? We'll give you a call and you can floo over to Grimmauld Place and from there to the Ward with us."

"I'd love to, Hermione. Not only am I very curious, I'd be very happy to await our grandchild together with you two!"

"I'd love to have you there with me, mum!"

"Hermione, did you ever transform while you were pregnant?" dad asks.

"No! Or only in the beginning, up about until the third month, then I stopped doing that. Didn't think it a good idea. And now I certainly won't do anything so foolish."

We're spending a fun afternoon, play a couple of board games together and laugh a lot. Dad offers to drive us home to Grimmauld Place.

"That'd be great - you would know where it is then."

Mum comes along. We're pointing the way and it takes about forty minutes through the whole town and right into the heart of it. Dad and mum look at the place with wide eyes.

"This really looks rather derelict," mum remarks.

"Yes, but I've had the idea that people aren't aggressive around here, just some of the neighbours are somewhat obnoxious. But they hardly notice us."

Dad parks the car, which I charm to look a lot less than it really is. Just to be sure that no one thinks it worthy of stealing. Dad grins. 

"Good one, that one, daughter!" 

I grin and show them the way to Number 12. The door kindly opens to all wands it recognises, like mine and Harry's. We go in and now that my parents can see it, they're quite impressed.

"You should have seen it when it was still the 'noble and most ancient house of Black'! Everything reeked of Dark Magic in here!" Harry says with a grin.

Seraina comes running out of the living room as soon as she hears Harry's voice.

"Harry! Harry!" she cries and Harry catches her and lifts her up. 

He gives her a kiss.

"Hey, Seraina! How are you today, little one?" he asks.

She chirps something, not everything is readable though. The twins are learning new words every day now and it's fun to hear them rattle down their repertoire. 

"Who's that little princess there? Why, aren't you the loveliest little lady?" my dad coos. 

Harry looks up to him and replies.

"That's our little Seraina! You haven't seen her often yet, have you?" 

"No, only about three or four times so far. She's certainly a lovely little one."

We all go into the living room, where we're greeted by the rest of Seraina's family. Addie is sitting on the carpet in front of the coffee table and is playing a wizarding version of Backgammon with Remus. Sirius sits on the carpet and plays with Dennis, who's learning the basics of putting Lego bits together, which he's received from Ron and myself. 

"Hi!" he says, looking up. 

Harry lets Seraina back on the ground, where she joins her brother and her father again to continue playing. 

"Well, my little ones, we have guests for tea, as it seems, so you'll have to play on your own for a while," Sirius says.

He gets up and greets my parents.

"Hello, Sirius! It's good to see you again. We thought we'd take Harry and Hermione back home, so we'd know where you guys live," dad says.

"Hello Helen, George! You're most welcome! I'm sure I can convince you to stay for tea, can't I?" Sirius asks.

"Well, I think so, yes... what do you say, Helen?"

"Thank you, Sirius. With pleasure."

"Take a seat then! I'll have Winky bringing the tea in an instant!" 

Remus is up as well and greets mum with a hug, dad with a handshake and invites them to sit down on one of the other sofas around the large coffee table. While she sits down mum says, looking around:

"This is really a lovely family room, Remus! You've done well with your renovation, I suppose. Hermione says it's been like a black hole in here..."

"That's what it was. Everything was dark, the curtains and shutters always closed, no daylight, dark walls, dark furniture, it was horrible. Which is why we were looking for the contrast. We wanted to sell the house, but once we saw what had been done we thought it would be a shame. For now we use it for the weekends, as it gets harder to apparate with the children. We can floo here though. So it's becoming our weekend house, while we'll go to the Sunnegg for vacations and breaks. And some weekends of course, especially when it's warm, because here we won't be able to let the children out. Poor Addie trembled when she came back here for the first time after we had taken her away."

"Who is Addie?" mum asks.

"Oh, you don't know yet? Well, Addie here is Sirius' small sister. Addie, these are Helen and George Granger, Hermione's mum and dad."

"Hello, Addie! It's nice to meet you. What a lovely young lady you are," says mum. 

Addie has warmed up to meeting new people. She shakes my parents' hands and smiles. 

"And how old are you, Addie?"

"I'll be ten in two months."

"Oh, that's great! I loved being ten! Do you like it, too?"

"I don't know... I like school with auntie Lily."

"That's good. You've got your very own teacher? Now that's what I call a piece of luck..." 

My mum treats most of the children in my parents' dental clinic, so she is really good in talking to children who are a bit insecure. Within minutes she's encouraged Addie to tell her all of her little secrets. In the meantime Remus tells dad Addie's story.

"When we decided to come back here to look through the documents and clean up the mess that the 'deaths' of Sirius' parents has left we found out that his father had actually only died three months before! And that his mother had not died when she was officially declared dead either. They had staged their deaths to produce another 'clean and pure' child. Addie was that child. The poor sweetheart had been locked up in a secret little flat inside the house and she'd NEVER been outside in her life before we've found her. Can you believe it? In the meantime she's opening up quite nicely. She's got a lot of Sirius' spunk and spirit. We love her a lot and luckily she's taken to us very well, too."

"Wow! Bet that made for quite the story in your wizarding rag..." dad says.

"Not yet. It might become public one day, but we definitely want it to be as late as possible. We have the child to protect. Even if she's opening up she's still very fragile. We have of course received custody over her, since she's Sirius' sister. So now we have three children."

"Which I'm sure you enjoy a lot!" dad suggests.

Remus grins.

"Not going to say no to that, George!"

Denny comes crawling and Remus pulls him up on his lap. Winky brings the tea and lots of little bits to eat. I pick up a cucumber sandwich. Remus hands Dennis to George and pours the tea for everyone. Sirius has come back and sits down next to Remus, picking up Seraina on the way. He takes his wand and makes tiny little bits out of another cucumber sandwich. Then he puts a bib around Seraina and lets her pick the little bits from her plate, which he holds. She points at her cup, which he lifts up, so she can take a sip or two of her warm cocoa. Watching them my hand slowly caresses over my belly. I'm feeling our baby a lot these days and it gives me a fuzzy feeling to know that soon I'll have all of what Siri and Remus have as well. I edge a bit closer to Harry. He puts his arm around me and gives me a quick kiss. 

"They're just so cute," he whispers.

I only nod.

It's days like this one I'm trying to keep in my memory. I'm keeping a diary and on such occasions I'm getting pretty sappy in it, but there's just so much that goes through my mind, so much love that I feel for my chosen family. And there's just as much love I'm feeling from the others for me. Sirius and Remus are really looking forward to our child as well. Of course one could say that it's too early, because we've both still a lot to learn, but we'll be working anyway, so why should we wait? Just like Remus and Sirius we're going to be there for our child as much as we'll be able to. We have two lovely examples of committed parents right in front of us and we'll happily pick up ideas from them. I intend to copy shamelessly, if they do something that makes sense to me...

It's great to watch Seraina picking up her little bits of cucumber sandwich.

"That's nice stuff, isn't it, Seraina?" I ask her.

Hearing her name she looks around and grins. She's got that beautiful baby grin, in the meantime she shows about fourteen of her milk teeth. After the tea my mum picks her up from Sirius and looks into her mouth to check on them.

"Very lovely teeth. You do brush them already, don't you?" mum asks.

"Of course. We actually have done that from the moment she got them. Before we've tried to leave the sugar out of their diet. Though we do it with water only. We'll only start on the toothpaste once they can sit still while we're brushing their teeth," Remus explains.

Mum checks Denny's teeth, too.

"Well done. Dennis' teeth look good, too."

"In case of a problem we've got the healer right next door, Helen. Poppy is good with repairing teeth. You should have seen mine after I got out of Azkaban. No one cared for our health there and of course there wasn't any water not for drinking. So my teeth were in ruins after twelve years of no care whatsoever," Siri tells mum.

For demonstration he opens his mouth a bit. 

"Wow. Just a spell, I suppose? Don't let that become known or anyone will want that instead of painful dentists' treatment," dad says with a laugh.

"You'd be out of work in no time, that's for sure, dad," I tease.

"Not really a problem, I'd just impose on that rich bitch of a daughter I've got," he teases right back. 

"That'd save me a house-elf," I continue.

He grins.

"You wouldn't use me for your slave!"

"Of course I would. Work for your keep. Fair trade, don't you think?" I'm acting severe now.

Mum snickers. 

"He's far better at housework than I am, so I'd be safe..." she says.

**Tuesday, 30.11.1999 / Harry**

Very early morning. Hermione is waking me up when she climbs back into the bed. She has to get up at least twice every night and then she has to make herself comfortable on the bed again, which takes her about ten minutes. I help to place the different little pillows around and underneath her to make it the most comfortable for her. That belly of hers almost scares me! Her nipples have started to leak an almost clear liquid two days ago, but that happens to many women she tells me. She says it's pre-milk. To be quite honest, I'm getting quite tired of the pregnancy and hope that the little bugger comes out of there soon! That has a lot to do with the fact that the space around my wife in bed has become a bit scarce. Where she's usually cuddling up to me because I'm warmer she now keeps her distance, because she couldn't possibly stand any more warmth. For the same reasons she pushes away the duvets, only to pull them violently back over herself ten minutes later when she's cooled out in this lovely, but rather cool bedroom. Those are the moments when I pray that it won't last long anymore. 

I'm not the only one who thinks that, by the way. Hermione is probably equally tired, because she really carries around a lot of weight. She's given up coming to lectures, because she's getting bumped into and bustled too much in the tube. But I don't mind to go alone. I'm still recording all of our lectures and since we have the same ones she gets the recorded lectures a day later. 

Our friends start pestering us whether we don't have any baby news yet. Fred and George come by regularly and Angelina has shown up with Carolyn once or twice. It'll be fun, because our baby and Carolyn will go to Hogwarts together. Couldn't care less that this is still a decade away. Carolyn is a little cutie, who starts baby babbling now. She gurgles and grins. I think, I'm a bit taken with babies!

Both sets of mums and dads spend a lot of time at Grimmauld Place. My mum's of course still teaching Addie, but she comes by most evenings. Remus and Sirius are here with the children for three days every week. They usually return to Hogwarts on Monday afternoon. Addie isn't completely off on Monday, mum teaches her a couple of subjects. 

So we're a lot of people to sit down at dinner on some evenings. Tonight it's Hermione's parents who are around with the two of us. Winky serves dinner very happily. 

"What did you do today, Hermione?" mum asks.

"Harry and I went to see the delivery room at the Maternity Ward. I think it looks mostly like a delivery room in any Muggle hospital with maternity wards. Just without all the emergency electronic stuff. Whatever is needed could be done magically. Mum, will you come? Harry and I want you both there, but I want you in the delivery room..."

"Would I be allowed to come?"

"Yes. I can have a whole party there if I want, but I really want you and Harry with me. And dad if he wants to..."

"I'll rather take my waiting post outside, sweetie, you'll have your husband and your mum and that should suffice, don't you think?" dad asks.

"Just didn't want you to feel unwanted, daddy!" 

Dad grins.

"Don't worry, darling. I'll be happy to come in and meet my grandchild later on. Can't wait, to be honest."

"It's not that I couldn't use some other male in that oestrogen overloaded affair, dad..." I dare to joke. 

Hermione and mum only grin. 

**Sunday, 5.12.1999 / Harry**

Hermione and I walk over to the kitchen for the breakfast. 

"Good morning, everyone!" Hermione greets. 

"Hello there! Slept bearably?" Remus asks.

The children grin from their high chairs. Hermione sits down at her usual spot. Somewhere there's a Commumirror which rings and Sirius summons it, because it's his. 

"Any news on Hermione and Harry's baby?" I hear Ron ask.

"Nope, not so far, sorry, Ron. Are you doing well?"

"Just fine. I'm off today, thought of coming over..."

"You're welcome, just hop inside."

"Err, Sirius... there just might be news," Hermione says.

"WHAT?" Everyone jumps and I feel the adrenaline pumping into my veins.

"I've had a few twinges that are most probably real."

"Did you hear that, Ron?" Sirius asks.

"Yeah, I did! I'll inform the gang, I'll call in an hour or two and if you're off to the hospital you can tell us, okay?"

"That'll be done!"

"Yay! The first baby of our gang's coming! All the best to you, Hermione!"

"Thanks, Ron!"

The communication ends and I look at Hermione. She hasn't said anything since getting up. But she was awake when I woke up. She smiles back at me, but I'm starting to get very nervous. Of course we've prepared ourselves well, read a couple of books, too, but I'm feeling the blood rush through my inner ears and it sounds terribly loud! My hands tremble when she says:

"Well, I think I'll forego cooked breakfast and suffice with a cup of tea and some orange juice."

"How do you feel?" I ask.

She sounds so self assured. I wish I could be like that. But I'm on the outside, she feels it all and she's completely in control. 

"I'm feeling fine, Harry. But that's bound to change sooner or later. I'll need your help and I know you'll do just great. Okay? Not scared?"

"Scared shitless, to be honest. I'm loads more scared than standing out there getting a shot at Voldemort, believe me!"

"I love you. I'll be fine. And you'll do fine," she assures me.

"Do we go in after breakfast?" I ask.

"No hurry. This is going to take a while. We're going to measure the time between contractions. Healer Thompson said to call when it starts and not come in before a time difference of fifteen minutes between the contractions. Forgotten?"

I sigh. Of course I've forgotten. I'm sure I'm going to forget a lot of things. 

"Can I use your Commumirror, Siri? Since it's here already?" Hermione asks.

"Sure! Here!"

Hermione calls her mother. 

"Hermione?" I hear Helen reply.

"Hey mum! You're going to meet your grandchild today, how's that?" 

"Yes! We'll be over in a moment. Are you going to the Maternity Ward by Floo?"

"Portkey. We'll be able to go all at the same time this way. But not for a few hours, I think. I'll feel okay waiting here for a while."

"Good!"

An hour later the doorbell rings and Addie runs to the door to welcome my parents.

"Hello, uncle George! Hi, auntie Helen!"

"Hey there, Addie! Are you excited about the baby, too?" mum asks.

"Oh yes! Auntie Hermione says I can come to the hospital, too!"

"That's going to be quite the party there, then. You can hold my hands, I'll probably need it, Addie," says dad.

We all laugh. Addie certainly takes it seriously and promises:

"Don't worry, uncle George!"

I start to concentrate on Hermione. So far she's not felt uncomfortable. She's telling me that she's just feeling twitches and they're still separated by about half an hour, so I'm not worrying yet. The day moves on, some of the Sunnegg-gang is apparating in and once Parvati is there we have at least a healer in training around who assures us that Hermione and the baby are both doing fine. My nerves are running amok, but I do try to keep my worries in check. Mum and dad are turning up, too. Mum's going to be there with us as well...

Hermione does a lot of walking around. She has put a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt on, to feel as comfortable as she can. She's feeling it and it gets harder now. I'm at her side when she wants it, feel her hanging on my shoulder heavily to relieve some of the pains. But she's looking up to me confidently and once the contraction wears down she breathes in a few times and lets go again. It's getting later and we reach the fifteen minute intervals. They're already waiting for us at the Ward, so Sirius sets up the Portkeys for those who can't apparate. Hermione's parents, Addie, myself, Hermione and the twins get to touch it, all the others who will wait for the baby outside of the delivery room will apparate. Being four adults we can hold Hermione up, so she doesn't tumble down after the landing. All is going well, even if it's been one of my worst Portkey rides ever. It's just a few seconds though and we manage to stay upright in the reception area of the Ward. We're welcomed by the healer on duty who records Hermione's personal information. Sirius, Remus, Ron, mum and dad, Parvati, Draco, Justin and Ginny are with us and are going to wait and entertain the children. 

"Hello, Mr. Potter, Mrs Potter! Welcome to the Maternity Ward! What a lovely big family to help you along you have brought along. We'll have to go through the forms stuff quickly, then we'll take you up to the delivery room. You're the only one today, so you'll have most of the staff to your assistance!"

"That's great. Can we do it quickly, please?" Hermione asks.

"Of course. Here - can you fill this in? Or do you want to do it, Mr. Potter?"

"Please, Harry!" Hermione says.

"Okay, I'll do this."

Remus steps up to stand in as Hermione's holding pole, while I grab a quill and fill in the personal information of my wife. 

"Name, first name, birthday, father of the baby... hey, Hermione, do you know who the father of that baby is?" I tease her.

"Well, if it's not you, I wouldn't know who was the lucky winner..." she shoots back.

"Darn it, I need to fill this in..."

"Just mention my husband. He's that strange fellow with the funny hair..."

"Well, I can do that."

The healer grins.

"Haven't seen that many wives who would actually fill in the name of the father if it is another than their husband, but would you believe that at least half of them are cracking jokes about the fathers?" the healer, Jane Olson, says.

The form also asks for the name choices. When I get to that part I shove everyone away and cover them up while I quickly write them down. It's going to be a surprise of course. I hand Mrs Olson the form, she picks it up and leads the whole party to the second floor, where the delivery rooms are. There's a very lovely waiting area with a few squashy sofas and armchairs and coffee tables. It's a big circular room. Six doors are leading to the six delivery rooms the Ward has. We're led through one of them, while the others make themselves as comfortable as they can. Hermione gets checked up quickly.

"Hermione, would you like to get some very light robes on? You will almost not feel them, but they will keep you warm enough."

"Yes, please," Hermione says and starts taking off her clothes. 

Mrs Olson gives her something that looks almost like my Invisibility Cloak. It's like a tunic, amazingly light and soft. 

"That's it. You will feel much better than having anything that still clings to your body. The fabric is charmed to warm you up. Now you're free to wander around as long as you'd like."

"Thanks. You're right, this feels fantastic!"

**Helen**

I'm looking around curiously. The room looks like a spacious bedroom. It has a large window to a courtyard. The weather today is rather grey in grey and it's been a cool day. The room's colours are a lovely olive green and most of the furniture is oak wood. There's a fairly wide bed in the middle, which doesn't look any different than beds in normal hospitals, it's bent upwards in the middle, has very solid looking handles and there's a prolongation at the lower end to put the baby down for the first check. For the moment Hermione is still allowed to mingle with us and walk around as much as she likes. The healer has declared her fine and says that the baby is very well. She's using nothing but a few spells for that. It won't cease to fascinate me what these people can do with their magic. I can't but ask Mrs Olson:

"What would you do if there are complications?"

"You are a Muggle, aren't you?" she asks right back.

"Yes."

"Well, basically we do the same things the Muggles do. We'll sedate your daughter and get the baby out by a section. But it will be done magically. But that's most probably not going to happen. This baby will be born naturally and just like any other child in the world, Muggle or magical."

"Good. I'm just curious."

"Oh, that's perfectly fine! I think it would be strange if you weren't. And right now we still have plenty of time to chat."

She smiles. I'm thankful, because she doesn't make me feel inadequate. Lily comes through the door. She still shocks me every time she does that, though by now I should be familiar with that ghost. I calm down again quickly though, so it's not a problem. The healer opens the door and we all move around freely.

It takes another three hours until Hermione finally decides it's time to lay down on the bed. It can be turned in any direction she'd like to position herself. At first she's lying on her side, the tunic like garment still on, but with time she asks:

"Can I take this off, Jane?"

"Yes, you can."

Mrs Olson closes the door now, winking at the people waiting outside and Harry starts to look like a caged animal! He's held up wonderfully so far. Hermione is a pretty tough cookie, I think, because she's moaned a lot, but there hasn't been any screaming so far. She refuses to get painkilling spells. Lily and I support her in that decision, which seems to be harder to uphold now as there are contractions every minute. They're still opening contractions, Jane tells Hermione. 

"You're almost there, Hermione. Just another centimetre! Then I'll allow you to push."

Hermione nods. Slowly but surely she does let out the one or the other scream. They get more frequent pretty quickly now, because the contractions come one after the other with no intermissions anymore. Harry looks stricken. I move over to him, while Lily takes my place holding Hermione's hand on this side of the bed. I grab Harry by the shoulders.

"Don't think of her in pain, Harry, just hold out! It hurts her, but it will be over soon! The screaming helps her. Okay?"

He swallows and nods.

"Yes, okay, but I can't see her suffer like this! Why won't she accept the spells?"

"Because she can do it, Harry! She needs to, you know. Let her be stubborn on this."

"Good. I trust you, Helen."

"There's my good son-in-law! You'll see, it will be worth it. Because your baby will be all awake and alert, not drugged."

"Would the baby feel the spells, too?" Harry asks the healer.

"Yes, Harry, I'm afraid, these spells do sedate the baby, too."

"Ah. Okay. No spells then, as long as Hermione doesn't want them."

He's SO brave.

Lily supports Hermione, too. She probably doesn't feel her hand being squeezed so hard it's almost breaking though, because there's nothing to break, really. Jane keeps checking the baby's condition and she's still smiling. To me it seems like everything is going quite smoothly for a first birth. Hermione is only nineteen, she's strong and she's fit, so I think, that this will pass well. Another half hour goes by. I look at the clock. It's close to midnight now. 

"Well, Hermione, I'd say you can start pushing when you feel the next contraction."

Hermione sits up and the back of the bed is following her, to give her the hold she needs for this. She's able to push down easier this way. Harry keeps wiping the sweat from her forehead and eyes. We've braided her long hair into one thick braid, so it won't get in her way. I notice how she breathes in and starts to push.

"Just a little - yes! Do you feel the baby coming down?" Jane asks.

Hermione lets the breath go and slumps a bit.

"Yes," she pants.

"Good. It's in the right position, so with the next wave it should come close to the neck of the uterus. That's when your real work starts!"

She's really in pain now. How I feel with you, love! While I watch you, hold your hand, I'm thinking back on the day just over nineteen years ago when I was in that very same situation and a look over at Lily tells me immediately that she's thinking of the same. We have time for a quick smile for each other. Lily was twenty then, just a year older than my girl is now, but I was thirty-five. We had decided that we wanted to settle down and build up our practice before we had a child. But now that I'm fifty-four, I'm still feeling like a very young grandmother. I wonder, how Lily and James feel about this, because technically they are only twenty-one now. 

"Now, Hermione, I want you to breathe in and push! Push! Push! Very good. Push hard! Yes! Hold it! Breathe out!"

Hermione's head falls back on the mattress, but she can't rest. I can see the little head poking out now and I know it's a matter of minutes!

"Very good! You're doing this, Hermione! Now again, breathe in! And push! Again! More! Just a bit more! I can get the head now! Very good."

It's just taking a few minutes more and there's the head. Harry can't decide where he wants to look, so he looks at Hermione, then to the baby, then to Hermione... 

"There we are! Wonderful, everything looks very much alright!"

Jane lays the newly born down and cleans the respiratory pipe, then the baby starts wailing a bit. It's a boy! 

"You have a very fine and healthy baby boy! Congratulations!" Jane says in that moment and places the baby on Hermione's belly, so she and Harry can get a few minutes to learn to know their baby before the cord will be cut and the baby will be packed up in a soft blanket. 

"Wow - Hermione! I love you so much!" Harry whispers and kisses Hermione.

How I love that young man! I know he'll be a very loving father and I can't wait to see his interaction with his new son. Lily and I both smile as widely as we can. I feel tears rolling down my cheeks. Then I take the first real look at the little boy.

"What's his name?" Lily asks softly.

"Nevin Ronald," Harry says.

"That sounds quite nice! I like it! Congratulations, you two! I really wish you all the best now," Lily wishes them.

I follow suit:

"Yes, I love the name, too. Congratulations! You've done a fine job, Hermione, and it's almost over now!"

Hermione is not really noticing anything apart from Harry and little Nevin. The baby looks really well, he lifts his little head already and turns it to his father's side. Harry and Hermione both caress the tiny boy. I remember my other job to take pictures, so I'm quickly heading next to Harry and get the camera out to take a few quick pictures. Harry has given me a magical camera, which seems to work almost like ours, in any case I only have to focus and press on the button. We'll have to take several still photos as well, otherwise George and I can't show them around. But that can wait until later.

"He's so cute!"

Harry gets to cut the cord. It's not done with scissors, though Jane has just used some clips to stop the blood from flowing through the cord. Harry smiles, pulls out his wand and points it at the cord. He mutters the words to a spell and I watch in awe how the cord vanishes between the clip and the baby's navel. All that remains is a perfectly finished navel. 

"Wow! How practical. You won't have to bother with that extremely tender bit in the beginning."

"At least not so much. It does have to heal a day or two, but it isn't a problem," Jane tells me. 

She watches for the afterbirth and helps Hermione to get rid of it while she still holds Nevin on her chest. 

"Ouch!" she yelps.

"Not the nicest bit after all you went through, is it?" Jane asks with a smile.

"Could do without it... that stings!" Hermione mutters.

But her attention goes right back to the little boy. He's completely calm now. His little hands are still balled to fists though and he needs to be covered. Jane quickly picks him up and wraps him in a soft towel, then she hands him back to Harry, so he can hold his son for the first time.

"My little one! I longed to see you for so long now! How I love you already, Nevin! There's a huge bunch of people waiting for you out there, do you know that? They're all impatient to see you. But first we want you and mum cleaned up, don't we?"

That's what happens in the next few minutes. Jane waves her wand and all traces of blood or other fluids vanish. Hermione is cleaned up and her internal wounds get healed with another spell. She sighs in relief.

"Oh, that's good! It's only the sore bones now! Thank you, Jane!" 

"You're very welcome, girlie! You've done a very fine job there. Now it's time to give little Nevin a bath and then a check-up and then some clothes. Harry, if you'd come over here!"

Harry is allowed to give Nevin a bath, then Jane does a more thorough examination of the baby, this time checking the joints, the bones, the testicles, the fontanel, looks into the eyes and the ears. She checks the reflexes, weighs and measures him and with all those activities I finally think I find the parallels to the Muggle world again. Finally there's two more spells and then Jane beams.

"Well, there's your perfectly healthy little baby boy, Harry! You can get him dressed now. Do you need help?"

Harry grins.

"No, I think, I'll manage! I've only had good exercise with twins the past one and a half years."

"That's perfect! Go right ahead then!"

Harry does just that and ten minutes later he puts the baby on my arm. 

"Here, Grandy, that's your grandson!"

He's so cute! I lift Nevin up, so, that I can see his eyes, just in case he opens them. Which he does a while later. They're Harry's eyes! They are still a bit murky, but I bet they will be green. There's not much hair to see, and what's there looks dark brown. He's got a cute button of a nose and lovely round ears. This is an amazing feeling - a grandchild... not that I expected one that soon, they actually surprised me a lot, but I suppose it had to do with the way Harry had to grow up. He needs to have this with Hermione. He needs to learn that something like a harmonious life is possible. 

Lily comes close to have a better look at our grandson. I wish I knew whether she can hold the baby, I'd pass Nevin on to her in an instant. I look at her. She grins and says:

"I can take him, just not very long, I'm a bit too cold for him. But he's so nicely covered in that warm blanket..."

I smile and give her the baby. She holds him for a moment. 

"What an incredible feeling, Helen! It's so amazing to see the next generation."

"You're going to be able to see a whole string of generations, Lily. That's pretty enviable in a way..."

She grins.

"Yes, I will. Though I suppose I don't want to stay around forever. There'll be the day when I will long for a nice final exorcising spell. But until then... I'm really happy to share time with James, Sirius and Remus."

After a while Lily hands Nevin back to me. I hold the baby for a while longer, until Hermione gets up from the bed and gets dressed into some comfortable clothes. The healer makes her a compliment. 

"Well done, Hermione! You're in perfect health. But now you'll have a bit of work again. It won't be long until Nevin gets hungry!"

I walk up to Hermione and give her Nevin. She takes her son on her arms.

**Hermione**

What a feeling! It's over, I'm feeling perfectly well now after Jane healed all the remaining wounds. There's only a lingering ache from the whole shifting of my bones during the birth. But I'm upright, I'm okay, now I can rest a bit. Though as soon as the door will open there will be the 'family'. Harry takes everything we brought together and puts it in the overnight bag. Then we look at each other and he says:

"Ready to face them?"

"Are we ready, Nevin? - I think so, eh?" 

Jane grins and opens the door. I walk out next to Harry, who's put his free arm around my shoulders. Mum and Lily follow us. We see the people out in the hall sit around. Some of them are talking, some are sleeping. Remus watches a sleeping Seraina next to him. We quietly walk there. It takes a moment until the first one of our friends notices that we're there. It's Sirius, who looks up from the magazine he's reading. He jumps up.

"Hey! Look who's here! You let us wait for a long time, you two!" he whispers.

He's with us the first and hugs me together with the baby.

"Congratulations, Hermione! Looks like a job well done."

"Thanks Sirius. And please let me introduce you to Nevin Ronald Potter."

"Awww! Oh, but he's cute, sweetie! Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks. I'm on my way to lie down though."

Dad walks up and smiles, James comes close, and then I'm surrounded in moments flat. That does tire me out quite a lot and so I tell them:

"Would you mind to let me go and find my bed, then you'll be welcome for another moment or two..."

"Of course! What are we thinking!" Sirius says and frees a path for me. He's grinning broadly. 

"Thanks, Siri!"

I'm very happy to find the room that has been prepared for me, only one floor up. It's quite a nice room. I pass Nevin to Harry, get out of my bathrobe and almost jump into the bed. Ah! That's good. That's when Nevin decides that he's waited long enough for food and starts to wail. Jane comes up to the bed and helps me to let Nevin suckle. Wow! Another amazing feeling. Until he bites me! 

"Ouch! Nevin! You don't bite mummy!" I chide.

Yowl, this hurts! He's suckling on, but loses the nipple. I have to help him grasp it again and of course that hurts again. But I'm inhaling a bit sharper and bite my lips until the little belly is full. Doesn't take very much of course, even though I do have milk already. It's been running for a few days already. When Nevin's finally done, we're both quite exhausted. I'm really looking forward to some sleep. 

"Sleep, love! You need rest now," mum says.

"Thanks. I'd love to..."

"No problem. We'll take Nevin with us for a moment, he looks full and happy and he'll sleep mostly, so you have some peace. I'll be back in a while..." Harry promises.

He kisses me and I pull him close. We have a son, I still can't believe everything went so smoothly!

"I love you, sweetheart."

"Love you, too, Harry."

**Harry**

I kiss her once more and wish her a good night. Then I watch as Hermione falls asleep. I let her sleep and take Nevin from mum's arms to finally present my son properly to his new family. It's amazing how this feels. Gosh, there's half of the Sunnegg-gang, Remus, Sirius, Addie, mum, dad and my in-laws... and all of them are beaming. I sit down with the baby on my arm and now I can't hold the tears back anymore, they're streaming down my cheeks. Addie must have been asleep, but she's awake now and Sirius lets her through to come and see Nevin.

"Oh, he's so cute, Harry!"

"That he is, Addie! If you sit down next to me you can hold him..." 

She's sitting down in seconds flat. I have to grin through my tears, while I let her hold Nevin for a moment. That's a lot of stress for my son in the first few hours of his life, but I think he won't be harmed. It's all a bit overwhelming for me, too, but so much love and happiness accompanies me right now. I think, we both enjoy the bath in all of that happiness. Couldn't care less for any sappiness. 

Dad and George come closer now, too. They both take a turn in picking up the baby for a few minutes. Dad sits down on my other side and says:

"You have no idea how happy I am for you and Hermione, Harry! You have just burdened yourself with a lifetime worth of worries, but with about twice the amount of learning experiences and love!"

I grin. And still there's tears in my eyes. The next one who says something has a very quiet voice. One which I love to hear in such a moment.

"A feeling that doesn't compare to anything else, Harry, isn't it?" Remus says. 

Since George has Nevin right now I just pull Remus into a hug and feel his arms around me. He can feel my tears, too. 

"Albus said to us when the twins were born that we were taking home so much happiness and that's what it was! You'll find that you do the same, Harry, and if there's anyone who deserves all the happiness there is to find it's you."

"I love you, Remus! So much! And I know that I love that little button there already as much as I love his mum. You guys will have to help me not to become overprotective..."

Remus laughs.

"We will! Get yourself another one some time soon and you'll find that over-protectiveness will vanish a bit..."

"We'll first have to get along with Nevin, I suppose."

After the immediate family it's the friends who are all thrilled. 

"So what's his birthday now, was it still the fifth or was it the sixth, Harry?" Parvati wants to know.

"It was the sixth. At 0.38 to be precise," I tell her.

"Duly noted."

I grin. I bet she's going to come up with a horoscope for Nevin. I don't really mind that, birth horoscopes are quite interesting matters. I give them all an hour of time, then I have to take Nevin up to finally get some real rest. 

"I think, I need to catch some sleep, too... so does Nevin. Can you all come back again later? Hermione will be here for another night..."

"Of course. You must be nearly down on the ground with exhaustion."

I pick up Nevin and the two of us join the woman we both love most in the world. There's space enough in the bed with Hermione, so I can put Nevin in his cot and lie down next to my love.

**Monday, 6.12.1999 / Remus**

Little Nevin is born on St. Nicholas Day, how lovely. In Switzerland we celebrate this as a children's day and a 'St. Nicholas' comes by in many households where there are children. When I was a child St. Nicholas used to come with his donkey, laden with sacks containing peanuts, tangerines, gingerbread and apples. Children would have to recite poems and the person playing St. Nicholas would give account of whether the child had been good throughout the past year. And of course there was either a reward in the form of a bag full of those nuts, apples, gingerbread and tangerines or there would be a reprimand. The festival is celebrated commemorating St. Nicholas, a man who was born in Patras and lost his rich parents early on. He shared his inheritance and became known for his love of children in particular. He looked after many orphans and was canonised shortly after his death. 

I think that's a nice birthday to have. 

Harry has taken the baby back to Hermione's room and will stay here for the next two nights as well. We return to the Townhouse to get some rest and are all lounging about most of today. Even the twins are a bit less active, they also feel the lack of sleep last night.


	18. Addie's Birthday and Christmas Break

**Monday, 13.12.1999 / Sirius**

Lily looks after the children today as Remus and I are on the way to get Addie's birthday gift. She'll be ten years old in two days. We're going to get her a broom as she's become quite interested in Quidditch lately, so she'll finally learn to fly. Next Saturday we'll give her a little party at the Sunnegg, and we plan to offer her to choose godparents among the gang. We have talked to them all and asked them if they'd be willing to stand in. All of them promised they would if Addie would choose them. My sister knows nothing of this as of yet, but she knows that the twins have godparents, and that little Nevin has them and she's asked me whether she has any or not. Since I haven't found any such evidence I told her that most probably she has not, since apparently no one knew about her existence before. That made her sad and I want that sadness to be wiped from her face completely! 

We enter Quality Quidditch Supplies and first browse the shop a bit. We look through the books on one shelf. There's some players biographies, auto-biographies and general books about the history, about the rules, volumes treating the positions specifically and titles for the coaches. Remus picks up a general title and looks through it. It's written for kids and looks really nice.

"Add that one, love, it will be fun for her to read and learn all the rules. We don't know what position will grab her interest yet, so this should do well," I tell Remus.

"Yes, I think, this is a fun book, too. I'll add this one about the Harpies, it's a standard already and I'll ask Angelina for the signatures of the team and the coach," Remus says.

I could kiss him for having this great idea. We've taken Addie to two matches by now and she's had great fun. She's learned to know the team through Angelina, so she should be happy to get a signed book. A salesperson comes to us and asks:

"Can I help you, sirs?"

"Yes, you can, thank you very much. We're looking for a good broom for a ten year old who is only learning to fly. Not too racing, but not an old ladies broom either," I explain.

"Hm. Is that ten year old rather a timid child or rather a daring one?"

"We haven't really decided yet, but she shows signs of a rather gutsy little thing."

"Okay. Then you might look at this Cleansweep model here. It's a Keeper's broom actually, very good for lots of turns, not too fast, but quite sturdy. Should be very solid for a first broom."

He shows us a nice, rather short broom resting on its exhibition hooks on the wall. Cleansweep Eleven Keeper is etched into the stick. I check the build and think it looks quite okay. James, who's with us examines the broom critically and nods.

"Looks quite okay..."

"If you prefer the Nimbus brand we could offer the Nimbus First Experience, which is made specially for young children to get a good start learning. It has an acceleration and elevation stopper, which can be extended until the child has learned to fly. You can extend the allowed speed and elevation in steps. With the final extension the First Experience corresponds to the Nimbus 2000. That should still be good enough even if the child gets a place on a Hogwarts house team."

"I agree with that," I say, following the young man to the wall where the Nimbus brooms are on display. 

James looks quite thrilled. He inspects the broom, lifts it from the hooks and weighs it, then asks:

"That has a good feel. So you extend the speed with spells?"

"Yes, the necessary charms are added in the information sheet. Not a Firebolt, but this is a very nice broom indeed."

We look at three other brooms, but decide on the First Experience. I'm paying for the broom and Remus gets the books and a Harpies Quidditch outfit. James grins.

"You DO like Quidditch after all, Moony!"

"I never said I didn't! I just didn't have the time to watch each and every one of your practices!"

No, he needed his study time. It used to be time for him spent on his own which he needed, too. As much as we loved to spend time together, everyone needs some alone time and Remus took it when we were in practice.

Our purchases made we're taking the gifts back to Grimmauld Place and hide it in our room. Remus vanishes with the book to see if he could get Angelina to sign it. 

He's back two hours later and beams. Up in our bedroom he shows me the first page and I can see that all seven of the main team and some of the reserves have signed. Addie is a great fan of Christine McAllister and will be extra pleased to see that her signature is there, too. Angelina has even added a little dedication for Addie. We wrap the gifts in sparkling red paper and put gold ribbons around the presents. 

**Wednesday, 15.12.1999 / Remus**

I wake up just before the alarm goes off. Sirius is still sleeping next to me, so I kiss him awake. He moans a bit, but I chase him up, because I want to make sure we're up before Addie. We have decorated the flat with colourful balloons and a big sparkling 'Happy Birthday Addie' on the wall. We manage to be up before the child and sit at the breakfast table, drinking our tea when Addie opens her door. She looks into the big living room and sees the decoration. She's still in her pyjama and looks rather sleepy. 

"Hey, look who's up, Remus!" Sirius says with a grin.

Addie comes to the table and leans on me, giving me a good morning hug and kiss.

"Hello, sweetheart, and a very happy birthday to you!" I tell her and give her a hearty kiss.

She beams, looks up to me and says:

"This looks great, Remus! I've never had anything like that!"

"Neither had I, love, that wasn't in the Black family program. You're ten years old today, little one, how does that feel?" Sirius asks.

Addie rushes over to Sirius, who opens his arms to give her a big hug, too. She returns it and climbs onto his lap, leaning happily on him. Sirius holds her tightly.

"Like getting closer to going to Hogwarts!" she cries.

We laugh. She's been deprived a proper education until recently and now it seems like she's starving for knowledge. She's draining Lily of hers and reminds me of a sponge with a huge capacity. Every day we come back from teaching and she's there telling us what she's learned while we were gone. Lily says she only gives her homework because Addie loves doing it, not because she needs to work through what she's learned during the lessons. We're thinking of getting her music and language lessons. Lily is already doing Latin with her, the basis anyway, but the girl seems to have no problem with it at all. 

"That's good. Next summer in a year you'll get your letter," Sirius promises.

"I can't wait. Having my birthday in December means I have to wait extra long..."

"We know the feeling, love. Remus and I both had to wait for an extra year, just like you, even a few months more. So we're sympathetic, we both hated it, too. But that gives you some extra time to study other things which you won't get to learn at Hogwarts, like an instrument and languages, Addie. How about that?"

"Could I? I can do some bits on the keyboard Lily has brought along..."

"The piano then? We can get one for you if you'd like. There's one at the Sunnegg in Parvati's room and there is more than enough space at the Townhouse to set up a piano. And we have enough space here, too, so you could practice wherever we are..." Sirius says.

Addie's face lights up. She loves Lily's music lessons and since the start of term she's learned a good number of songs. I really think Hogwarts does a poor job on cultural education. Actually the only subject with a chance of learning anything like musical things is Muggle Studies. But Quentin doesn't have much of a musical knowledge beyond knowing about composers, song lyrics, pop and rock music. 

"I'd love that," Addie replies quietly.

"I'll look into finding a teacher for you. They need to come here for regular lessons. But maybe we could pass the idea by Minerva to offer some quality music lessons here at Hogwarts? Then you could continue when you start coming to school here," I tell Addie.

"That would be great, Remus! Where are we going during Christmas break? Are we staying here?" she asks.

"We're going to the Sunnegg, love. And you'll have a little party on Saturday for your birthday. Which leads to my next question: do you want your presents from us now or on Saturday?" Sirius asks.

"Can I get yours now?" she asks shyly.

"But of course! You'll get a bunch on Saturday from everyone else anyway. Here they are, sweetie!" Sirius cries and reveals the pile of our gifts. There are some from Minerva, Poppy, Filius and Edith as well. 

Addie has received a lot of stuff in the past months. But apart from the few toys and games there were clothes, books and other necessities, so seeing that pile of gifts, wrapped to make them surprises really makes her happy. 

"Can I open them?" she asks.

"Of course you may!" I say.

Addie jumps off Sirius' lap and goes over to the gifts, picks them up one by one and looks at the wrappings, then the tags and finally picks Sirius' first, because the form of it already makes it quite obvious to what it contains. She doesn't tear it open, she carefully removes the wrapping, which makes me smile. That's a sign that she's appreciating the way the gift has been wrapped. I bet she never received anything new and truly of her own. Seeing the long, slim case with the Nimbus logo she starts to hoot and opening it she looks really happy!

"Yay, my own broom! Thank you, Sirius, thank you sooo much!"

Sirius gets another big hug and kisses on his cheeks. He grins and tells her:

"It's a special broom to help you learn to fly, love, the speed is not too high yet, but we'll be able to make it faster over time and by the time you're allowed to have one at Hogwarts it will be quite a fast broom."

"I can't wait to start, Siri! When can I?" she squeals.

"Not before Saturday, I'm afraid. We have a bit of something to do until then. But Friday afternoon we leave for Switzerland and then we have until the start of the new year. But it's going to be pretty cold!"

"I don't care!"

"Very good. That makes you a tough kid!"

Addie holds up her fist and Sirius meets the small fist with his big one. They look at each other in a decidedly sibling way which I find adorable. Sirius loves her like the twins, but there's a different quality, there's a fraternal thing in there, something that can only exist between siblings who are fond of each other. Something conspiratorial, some kind of a bond that's hard to explain. But it's there and it makes them a special 'team'. She regards me in a much more parental way. I can feel love and respect from Addie. It's a whole different thing to her relationship with Sirius. She respects him as her guardian, but she loves him as her big brother, who's always ready to play with her. Seeing them fooling around and Sirius going down on her level to be an equal with her is great fun. I know he'll probably be like that with our growing twins, too. Right now I'm glad to see that he gives Addie this very special attention.

Addie turns to my gift. It comes in two parts, the books and the outfit. Again she opens the wrappings carefully and squeals when she sees the clothes. And she is even more happy about the books. She comes and hugs me.

"I love that, Remus! Thank you! I really like the Harpies, I'll have the book read by Saturday, I'm sure!"

"You will, I'm not betting against that, Addie. Look inside!" I tell her.

She opens the book and her eyes get big. She follows Angelina's dedication with her finger and looks up to me when she's finished.

"I went to see them at their training to ask Angelina for the autographs, Addie, and they all gave them happily. See, they're all there: Aggie, Madeline, Christine, the O'Leary sisters, Angelina and Maureen. Even Alicia, Sheryl and Benita signed."

"I'm so happy! Thank you, Remus, that's a really great gift!"

Winky serves the breakfast, but Addie continues to open gifts. The next one is Minerva's. It's a small animated stuffed dog. Looks like a Scottie to me, a black one. A small tag on the dog's red collar says to start the animation needs a keyword, which is 'Run' and to still it, Addie has to say 'Quiet'. 

"Run!" she says and the dog starts moving around, trotting in that typical Scotch terrier way, wagging the tail all the while and barking. Addie beams again.

"I love it. Can I come and say thank you to Auntie Minerva, please, Remus?"

"I think so. How about tonight for dinner? You can come to the Great Hall with us."

"I can? Thank you, Remus!"

Addie gets a book on fairies from Filius, a gardening kit from Edith and a book about girls and their growth from Poppy. That one is a very nice book, from which she'll get a lot of valuable information about the growing up of a young witch. She shows it to me and looking through the table of contents I see chapters treating her health, hobbies, menstruation and all that goes with it, boys, make-up, legal subjects. There's lots of stuff in there that we won't be able to tell her and I will thank Poppy personally for thinking of it. She shows it to Sirius, too. He reads over the chapter titles and his eyes start to show a mischievous glint.

"Of course Remus and I can tell you all about boys, Addie!" he says.

"Hm," I clear my throat.

He looks at me innocently. Then he grins.

"What? She'll need to know all about them soon enough! You don't want her to become a wallflower, now do you?"

I laugh. 

"Paddy! I'm dead sure there's not the least bit of danger for that! She's lovely and she'll be beautiful. I rather expect she'll have to fend the boys off!" 

"That's better than not being interesting, my dearest Moony. That will give her choices!"

I chuckle and point out that we're celebrating her tenth birthday, not her fifteenth.

"In any case I think, the book is brilliant, Addie."

We only have time to eat a quick breakfast and then go to classes. I have the Slytherin and Hufflepuff fifth years in my first double lesson and then another double lesson with one of my favourite classes, the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw sixth years. We're going to practice some shield charms. 

At breakfast I tell Minerva:

"Addie wants to come and thank you for her gift. I said she could come to dinner tonight..."

"That's just fine, Remus. You know that your children are welcome here anytime."

"I know. We just don't want them over-privileged."

"I can see that. It will make their integration much easier when they come to school."

"That's it. We need to make a difference between Hogwarts as their home and their school. Is there anything you need me to do for you today?"

"No, nothing. I will be out of the castle though, I'm needed at the Ministry as it seems. Amelia has asked to see me and I'll visit Elizabeth Montgomery while I'm there."

"So you'll be out all day?"

"Most of it. I take the opportunity to go out and have lunch with Elizabeth."

"Have fun then!"

**Saturday, 18.12.1999 / Sirius**

Christmas break! We've arrived at the Sunnegg yesterday in the late afternoon, now we're enjoying the party Ginny and Hermione have set up for Addie's birthday. She gets a special lunch with what we now know she loves to eat most and a huge birthday cake. Most of the gang are here, though Draco and Parvati are missing, because there's so much to do at Dragon's Tales until the park can be opened in mid-April. The two are also overseeing the construction of their new house fairly close to the park. They plan to move there as soon as it's finished and furnished. 

We haven't seen Harry and Hermione since Nevin was born. The little one is a cute baby and both his parents seem to enjoy their free time. They haven't gone back to university since he's been born and will be starting there again in January. While they will be in lectures, Nevin will stay at the Diagon Alley day-care centre.

Right before we get to the cake, I get everyone's attention. When I have it, I turn to my sister.

"Addie, before we move to the cake, we'd like to give you another present. Remus and I thought it would be nice for you to have a godmother and a godfather and have talked to everyone here. You get to choose them. Anyone here in the room apart from Remus or I is ready to become your godfather or godmother. I want to give you some time to think about who you would like to choose, Addie, you don't have to give us your choices just yet. Unless you make them quickly of course. How about that, would you like that?"

Addie looks at me, quite baffled, then she slowly starts to look at the people around the table. I think, she'll choose Ginny or Hermione for her godmother, but I have no idea who she likes best for her godfather. 

"Any one of you?" she asks.

They all grin and confirm that. Addie gets up and walks around the table until she's next to Ginny.

"Ginny? Would you be my godmother?"

"Yes, Addie, I'd love to!" Ginny replies simply and pulls Addie into a hug. 

"Thank you, Ginny. I really like to have you as my godmother."

"That's great! And I'll like to have you as my godchild."

And then I'm really astonished, because Addie walks straight to Justin and asks him:

"And will you be my godfather, Justin?" 

"But of course, my little lady! I shall love to have you as my godchild!" he exclaims and hugs her, too.

Addie returns to me and says:

"Thank you for this gift, Sirius! That's a very nice one, even better than the broom!"

I have to grin. That means something, she already loves that broom, even before she's started to fly it. James grins, too, he has watched her itching fingers to go and try it out on her own. But that will be for another time. Now she gets to blow out candles on the first birthday cake she's ever had. Winky and Dobby have made it and it looks lovely, like a Quidditch pitch and the candles are ten of the fourteen players. It's not easy to blow them out, even though there's only ten candles, because like the players they fly around the pitch. But she manages and we tell her to wish for something as a reward.

And then there are all the gifts. I can see that the couples have given her presents together, which is a good idea. There are some lovely clothes, books, toys, games. She'll be busy through the break, that's for sure. I think that in just a week's time there will be loads more gifts. It's not really fun to have a birthday that close to Christmas. 

I get dressed into warm clothes and so does Addie. Before we go out I'm casting warming charms over us and then she can finally grab her new broom. I take mine and some of the others take theirs and come along. We cast a round of illusion charms to look like birds to the Muggles when we're flying. And then we give Addie her first flying lesson. One student, six or seven instructors, now there's a sight! But it's fun and she's a quick learner, here too, not only in the academic field. She's delighted to go up, but her broom is still quite slow and has a height barrier as well. One, which I can lift to a lot higher in the course of the day. I won't allow her above ten metres for the time being though. She'll only have that barrier taken away when she starts Hogwarts and Madam Hooch allows it.

It's a short, but a fun afternoon. The sun goes down just after four o'clock and we return inside to a 'Zvieri', as tea-time is called here (AN: from the figure four, at which time it's usually consumed) of hot cocoa and more cake. The cocoa is warming us nicely as the heating charms have worn off a while ago and we're all pretty cold. We have some snow outside and it's very windy and ghastly. 

After dinner I finally get time to go and look at the cottage next to the farmhouse. Harry and Hermione have decorated it in warm colours, mostly soft beiges and browns, with some either red or forest green fabrics and other colours. Their bedroom on the top floor looks lovely. It's nice and big, covering most of the floor. There's a new bathroom, but it's open to the room. They have just tiled the part and Hermione says:

"We're not sure if we leave it that way. It does produce lots of moisture and while we can spell dry it we don't know if there's any effect on the wooden structure of the room. So we might close it off in the end after all."

It looks great. A large tub, a classy looking shower and a really lovely double sink. There's a full length mirror on one side of the bathroom wall. The tiles are in a very soft light green. The new wall to wall carpet is dark beige, the wood of their furniture is darkest oak, the bed hangings forest green silk. 

"It looks great!"

They keep Nevin's cradle and his dresser up here for the time being. Hermione points at it and says:

"We've decided to keep Nevin in here as long as I'm nursing. It's hard enough to get up at night, but it's a lot easier to have him right there with us than to have to pad down to his room and up again and then down and up again to take him back there. This way we're much quicker. But we've noticed he needs changing at night, so we do that by candlelight. This way none of us wake up too well and everyone can usually go back to sleep easier."

"Sounds reasonable to me..." I say, "and that's why we keep the twins as close as we can. But now they're sleeping nicely."

"Nevin wakes us at least three to four times every night..."

"Don't be noisy, but don't be too quiet around him. He needs to learn to really sleep, even with some noise. I think, if he gets it too quiet he'll be in trouble once you give him a sibling. If he learns to sleep with some noise around he won't make trouble when you have to care for a new baby."

"Sounds quite reasonable. But that might give us a hard time until he is used to it. I'll keep it in mind though, thanks."

**Sunday, 26.12.1999 / Justin**

I wake up to more wind. The weather has been consistently bad during the past week, we've been inside most of the time, much to Addie's dismay, who would have loved to go and fly some more. But it has been extremely windy, much too warm and it rained again and again for the whole week. I have been on duty on three days including Christmas day, but now I'm off for six days. Ron will have to work today, tomorrow and then two more days next week. But we will get some time off together. He's got to be at Auror headquarters at nine, so the alarm goes off and the radio starts at just before half past seven. We get to hear the weather report:

"...and finally there's a warning for very strong winds today, which are expected to reach top speeds of one hundred to one hundred and forty kilometres per hour, especially in the alps and on the edge of the alps. There will be more rain throughout the country, the highest amounts are expected in the east, while the western part will probably be mostly dry..."

I tune it out and turn to Ron, who's half awake and says:

"Morning, Justin!"

"Morning, love. That sounds like nasty weather around here..."

"Doesn't say any nicer things for Britain. Margaret said she's heartily sick of the rain by now."

"I can understand her, because I know the feeling, I've got it, too. Feel like I'm getting rust all over my body."

We kiss and enjoy our usual morning quickie, then we both get up and shower.

"You don't need to get up, Justin! You can sleep in, remember!" Ron says.

"I can just as well get up now. Otherwise I'll be wide awake when you are sleepy tonight. Besides I expect Addie to be up, she's an early riser, we can play together for a bit."

"You really take your becoming a godfather seriously, Justin, don't you? It's great!"

"Yes, I do. I think, she's missed so much and she seems to have so little time to experience all these things that should have been the most normal things for her."

We meet her at the breakfast table, where she happily takes note of my presence. 

"Do you have to work today, Justin?" she asks.

"No, only Ron has to. We can have a whole day of fun, Addie!" I promise her.

"Oh great! I want to play games, please."

"Playing games it is then!" I reply. 

**Sirius**

We're joining them for many games. It's nice to see Ginny and Justin giving Addie some extra attention, so that she will know they have a special bond with her now. Ginny and Justin both have a very good connection with children. 

The twins are still crawling a lot, but now they do start to run around and do a lot more on two feet. We have to keep things up high, but then Denny often floats them away from their spot. So we have to constantly use summoning charms for scissors or quills. Seraina hasn't shown her first signs of magic yet and we're both very glad for it. It's hard to tell Denny to stop it, but we do. Kindly and patiently. Again and again. It's pretty tedious, but it's difficult for him to understand why he can't do magic yet. Which is why we're not angry with him, but we still have to tell him off.

There's a lot of wind today. Just around lunch the wind blows a lot of stuff around and we are looking outside with a bit of worry. Remus turns on the radio and we keep hearing information about the storm called 'Lothar', which races across Switzerland with speeds of over a hundred and forty kilometres per hour. The news are full about the damage it's done already and keeps doing. In the near forest there's a scary amount of noise and I'm sure some of the trees there have gone down just as they do in France and Germany, the other two countries mostly hit by now. We're making sure that our huge glass windows and doors of the living room are still unbreakable.

Seraina gets scared of the noise from the wind and comes crawling to me. I pick her up and hold her on my lap to sooth her. 

"Daddy! Loud!" she cries.

"I know, love, that's the wind. It will blow over after a while. Want to go and take your nap with me?"

She nods. 

"Okay. Let's go then!"

I'm taking her up to my bedroom, change her nappy and take off most of my clothes, then I let her crawl under our duvets and follow her. I don't mind to sleep for a bit, so she cuddles close and both of us go to sleep.

**Remus**

This is one hell of a storm. I don't think I have ever seen anything like this here in Switzerland. Though there are often strong winds, but like this? It's getting really scary. Sirius has taken Seraina up to our bedroom for her afternoon nap. I'm grabbing Denny and take him up to his room, change his nappy and remove some of the outer clothes. 

"Ready to sleep, sweetheart?" I ask him.

He nods. But as soon as I put him into his cot he cries. I close the curtains, close the door, so it's quite dark, then I take Denny on my lap on the rocking chair, slowly rock and hum in a low voice. It takes a few minutes until he falls asleep. Only when I'm sure he's deeply asleep can I put him into his cot. Then I quietly leave. 

**Monday, 27.12.1999 / Hermione**

The news today are full of the damage 'Lothar' has caused. In the canton of Berne roughly a third of the trees in the forests are down. The costs for the clearance will be in the millions and probably take years. A couple of people died, mostly hit by falling trees. A couple of stretches on the highways had to be closed, again mostly due to fallen trees. Tons of shingles that have been thrown off the roofs, some roofs completely gone, smashed greenhouses by the dozen. And that's only the local bit. 

Harry and Sirius take a broom flight over our forest and find that it has mostly withstood, but there are a couple of cracked and fallen trees, here, too. That will be a case for the insurance...

Half of Europe has suffered from this storm. In the beautiful park of Versailles, where the fire of 1991 has already wreaked havoc they have counted about ten thousand trees uprooted or cracked. Many of those trees had been planted at the end of the seventeenth century! What a loss. Luckily there haven't been all that many human victims. Damage on things is reparable, but lost lives...

I'm holding my baby tightly while I wait for Harry and Sirius to return. Nevin has been very restless over the past few days, I'm quite sure he feels the weather a lot. It's like there's electricity in the air, my hair was even frizzier these days than it usually is. But yesterday seems to have been the climax of the storm, it's considerably calmer today. 

"Hopefully this is over now, love," I mutter, while I carry Nevin around.

He's hungry, but it isn't time yet. He has to be patient for just another ten minutes. So I walk around the big living room with him until it's time. I need to get him on a predictable rhythm if I can, so I will be able to go and feed him between lectures. I won't mind to miss lectures though, Harry records them anyway and I can hear them later. 

Finally I can sit down somewhere and feed him. It's still an amazing feeling and I'm still getting used to be his source of food, but he has done very well indeed. I have to help him to grab the nipple properly, but that will soon be a thing of the past I'm sure. Harry is fascinated watching me feeding our son. 

"Food, glorious food... you seem to like that, love," I whisper. 

His tiny hand rests on my chest and he works hard on the nipple. It's such a big job for such a tiny person. But his eyes are closed and he suckles and sighs happily in between some of his sips. I'm told that with the first few sips he gets most of what he needs already, the rest is just extra and cuddling. In any case the milk is a bit more fluid in the beginning, probably to still his thirst before his hunger and then he gets the more nourishing bit. 

Once Nevin is fed Harry is there to take him on his arms. It's great to see him so involved. Harry beams every time he sees Nevin from far. His green eyes sparkle. Nevin's eyes will be the same green, but I think he'll have his grandmother's red hair. There isn't much hair yet and it's dark, but I'm quite sure that's going to vanish. There are already some fresh strands growing and those seem to be reddish. James hopes that this means he's spared the wild growth on his and Harry's head. We'll see...

**Saturday, 1.1.2000 / Remus**

"It's high time to go to bed or we will be dead when the twins demand to get up in the morning," Sirius whispers into my ear. 

Oh yes. It's half past one and we need to sleep or... the party is still going on, Harry and Hermione of course have left a while ago as they have an even harder time with lack of sleep than we do if they don't go early. So we wish everyone a good night and go upstairs to get our minimum amount of sleep. 

Only to be woken by a happily babbling Seraina who calls us from her room. It's time to get up. I sleepily open my eyes and listen to my daughter who hums and sings and calls:

"Papa! Papa! Saina up!"

"She's calling you, love!" Sirius says with a smirk.

I glare at my lover, but I swing my legs out of my bed and go over to find Seraina standing at the railing of her cot, grinning from ear to ear and stretching out her arms. She has dropped everything the moment she's seen me come in. 

"Good morning, my little sunshine. You certainly are ready for the new year, aren't you?" I greet her and lift her out of her bed. Then I take off the sleeping bag and change her, wash her quite thoroughly, too, as she doesn't smell like roses, then I get her dressed. I take her over to our bedroom and lift her on the bed, where she starts to crawl all over her daddy. Serves you right for making fun of me, love!

Sirius groans, but he sits up and hugs her. 

"Hey, little one! Have you slept well?" he asks her.

We listen to her sounding like a twittering bird and have to grin. She really starts to talk now. Denny is far behind her in that regard. He's better with moving. I slip back under the duvet for a while. As long as Seraina's happy to just be with us on the bed we're going to stay put. I love the cuddling time anyway. It's when my little girl is closest to us. She loves the cuddling time, too.

When it's Denny's turn to wake up it becomes Siri's turn to get up. I yawn and get up, too, pull on my bathrobe and pick up the clothes I want to wear today, then I take Seraina on my other arm and head down to the bathroom. I get dressed, while Dobby watches Seraina, then it's time for breakfast and after breakfast it's time for the children to get their teeth brushed, a procedure which neither of them likes. 

Addie is coming downstairs, too. She sleeps in longer these days and comes down in her pyjama with one of her stuffed animals in her arm. Every day she's more like any normal ten year old child, not like that near zombie she was when we found her. She's still a bit sleepy and wishes us all a good morning, before dropping her stuffed animal and sitting on her place. Even when Winky puts a plate with her breakfast in front of her she still yawns. I grin. She doesn't even have an idea how much she reminds me of Sirius when we had just met at Hogwarts. That's about how he sat at the breakfast table, especially on Monday mornings. 

"Good morning, Addie. And happy new year!" I say.

"The weather is a bit better today, love, we can go flying again," Sirius promises.

"Oh yes! I'll get warm clothes on then! When do we go out?" asks Addie, very awake all of a sudden.

"Either before or just after lunch..." Sirius suggests. 

"Anything... just soon!" Addie says.

We decide to go after some of the young people show up for breakfast, so we have someone to look after the twins. I'm going along, but after half an hour I return inside. It's cold now and I prefer the warmth of the huge fire in the living room fireplace and watching the little ones to flying around in that ghastly weather. I'm sitting down on a sofa in front of the fireplace and pick up my book, but as soon as I've started reading I am assaulted by my son who wants to play. I pull him up on my lap and he starts to tell me a complicated story of a ball, but I don't quite understand what happened to that ball. But I do get it that he means one of the billiard balls.

The gang has bought a Snooker table for the living room for their Christmas present to each other and us. Blaise, Padma, Parvati and Harry are currently trying their hand at finding good angles and getting the balls down. A cue-rack has been mounted on the wall underneath the stairs and next to it is a blackboard where they note their points. Hours of watching Snooker on the telly have given them a bit of an eye for it, but now they're trying their hands at getting the right speeds or spins on the balls, which is a lot more difficult. Blaise has Seraina on his arm who watches for a while how her godfather fares. 

Dennis points over to the table in his tale about the ball. I get up with him and go over to try and find out what has impressed him so much he made such a lengthy story out of it. Padma grins and says:

"I managed to actually shoot one over the edge of the table! I've still got two left hands here... I can see very well which ball I want to take on, but..."

I grin. Yes, that 'but' causes quite a lot of problems, sometimes even to the best players. 

"Are you actually playing a match?" I ask.

"Not really. We're still figuring out the best moves and so. We try to work through positions and situations to find out the best way of going about them," Blaise explains. 

I watch them for a while, Denny on my arm. After we left Hogwarts Sirius and I had spent a lot of time playing Snooker in pubs. I still love the game a lot. 

Harry has managed to pot two reds, a pink and a blue and now he's split up the reds in all directions with a shot that's definitely been too strong. The blue is down though and he looks at the table to find the best red to go on. The cue ball is close to the side cushion. There are several reds close by, but none he could pot. The only option is one ball planted on the side cushion about forty or so centimetres away from the pocket. Harry sees it and sighs.

"Well, there's nothing for it, I have to try that one..." he says and prepares to lean over the table. 

He's right handed, so he has a chance if he gets the right spin and angle. The red ball bounces off the head cushion, kisses the other side again and stays on the side cushion again, directly in front of the pocket, but the cue ball has spun back a little and is behind another red.

Parvati is next in line. 

"You can try a plant with that red there... should be working since the red is an inch away from the pot, Parvati," I suggest. 

"Well, I could try, but knowing my skills so far I won't be very successful," she says with a grin.

She doesn't have any other option but to play safe, so she takes it on and actually manages to pot the red. The other red ball spins back and gives the cue ball a double kiss, and now she's snookered behind it for the coloured ball. 

"Duuuh..."

Dennis looks a bit bored and wants back down on the floor. He goes over to the corner where the toys are all stored and picks up something to play. I keep watching the gang and after the table has been cleared they decide to have a match. 

"Do you play along, Remus?" Padma asks.

"Well, I haven't played in almost twenty years, but yes, why not?"

I pick up a cue and we decide who will start. It's to go over three frames only, because we'll certainly need a lot of time. And to give everyone the opportunity to play we will change from one pair to the next after each frame. 

"We could use a sixth player..." Blaise muses.

Ginny and Ernie sit at the table playing chess, but Morag is there and offers to play, too.

"Good, then it's Remus playing Blaise, myself playing Harry, and Parvati playing Morag, okay?" Padma asks.

We agree and she notes the pairings down. While two of us play a third one counts the point and someone else will note them down. We spin a coin to find out who opens the first frame. It hits me, so I pick up the cue ball and put it to the right of the brown ball. I aim for the outermost red in the triangle of red balls and catch it lightly. I even manage to bring the cue ball back down to the D where it lands just off the cushion. Blaise doesn't look happy at all. 

"You opened like a pro, Moony!" he moans.

"Pure luck, Blaise..." I object.

"Well, there's nothing for it..."

"Play safe, there's nothing on, but the red has gone out far enough to play safe," Parvati suggests.

Blaise nods and he hits the red, but the cue ball splits a couple of the other reds and brings the black out of commission. That's going to be rather difficult. After about three exchanges between us I can finally get a go at one of the reds with a chance of coming back on the pink. I try to get the best angle to move on. Red is down in the left corner pocket and I get the cue ball with a bit of an angle on the pink, so that I can possibly reach the next red. 

"One," Padma counts. 

"I'm going to take the pink to the right middle pocket and hope that the cue ball spins right back to take on that red to the left corner pocket," I explain. 

I aim carefully after I've decided on the angle and now it's for the right speed. I manage to get the pink down and even get a fairly good chance at the next red.

"Seven," Padma counts. 

I look at the balls and figure that I could free the black if the white gets the right angle. But my red kisses the cushion and stays safely out of the pocket, while the cue ball misses the black by a few centimetres.

"That's six for Remus, Harry..." Padma says.

Harry notes that down.

Blaise tries to get my red, hits it, but the shot has been too strong and the ball doesn't go down. I can then pot it, get the black free and manage to take two more reds with the black. But the third time I'm attempting to get the black down I miss the pocket. 

Blaise can finally score a few points by hitting the pocket with two reds and two blacks before he misses the next red. The frame takes for a while and I win it with a twenty point margin. Blaise grins and declares:

"You've had a bit more practice, I guess..."

"I did. And I'm just finding out that some of it isn't lost. But you're doing quite well. Being used to pointing with a wand only helps here, I think."

Harry and Padma take the next frame, which Padma wins, then Parvati plays Morag. They're still at it when Sirius, Addie and Justin come back inside, all three rather hungry and cold. They all hurry to get changed, then it's almost time for lunch. Morag and Parvati join us, leaving the frame shortly before its end. Morag leads, but not by much. 

We're sitting down to lunch and after that we continue our matches. It's really fun and I think we all learn a lot. Every time a foul and a miss is called we're happy that unlike the Muggles we can just restore the game as it was magically. I'm winning the tournament, but they are only just learning so I'm feeling a bit like 'robbing the cradle'. Sirius watches us, amused and Addie thinks the game is cool. 

**Sunday, 2.1.2000 / Sirius**

I'm waking up my lover with a slow kiss. His eyes flutter open and he tries to focus while I trail down his throat with my tongue, taking my time until I land where I find his heavy cock, already hard with his usual morning erection. I nibble it for a bit and hear his hoarse moans, still very sleepy, but already hot for the pleasure I'm giving him. I pull the foreskin back and wrap my mouth around the head, covering my teeth and sucking him inside. 

"Aaah, oh yes!" he hisses. 

Merlin, I love to hear him this way. I continue to go down on him, take him in almost fully. It's impossible to reach down completely, he's too thick for me to take so deep down. But I'm sucking him hard and because he's not as alert as he usually is he's coming fast. With a cry he lets go, I swallow the semen that spurts out and slowly pull back. 

"Good morning, love," I say softly.

"You've just left me a puddle of mud..." he complains, "how can I possibly get up now?"

I grin. Then I apparate right next to the bed, push the duvet away completely and carefully pull his legs over to drop them on the ground, then I declare:

"Like so..."

He makes a show of being unable to lift himself, so I pull him into a sitting position, but as soon as I let go he falls back on the bed. 

"Nope," he says.

I'm taking his hands again and start to pull. Only to feel him pulling me down on him. I almost fall down, but somehow he gets us both back on the bed, me on top of him. 

"Thought you were nothing but a puddle of mud?" I ask.

"'Course I am... you know what happens to people who step into a swamp, don't you?"

"They sink in..."

"Precisely. Sink!"

I'm rolled around on the bed and feel him on top of me, slightly grinning. Then he kisses me on the tip of my nose. Then on my lips. Then he deepens the kiss and I'm sinking into that swamp fast. I'm closing my eyes and just feel. He starts caressing me all over. Kneeling over me he gets down to my cock, which is hard and waiting. He picks it up and gives it a few good strokes. I moan and then I hear him casting the cleaning and then the lubrication spell and smear the stuff on my cock and his opening, then he lifts himself up and comes down on my shaft. I replace his hand to hold it up, he just pulls his cleft a bit apart and slowly fills himself up with my flesh. No more preparation than the bit of lubrication! I open my eyes and stare up at him, but he just comes down slowly, impaling himself completely with my cock. Aw, this is so good! It will always be this good! I'll never get enough of it.

"Ah. So good, love..." I moan.

He sits still for a while, just moving a bit. Then he starts to rock, then he moves up and down. He's placed his hands on his feet behind him and only pushes up and down with his thighs. Each time he moves, the muscles in his butt tighten and give me even more friction. I grab his cock and start to stroke it. He's half hard again, but under my strokes he gets stiff in no time. I can't close my eyes anymore now, the feeling is just too good and the view us incredible. Remus dances on my cock and slowly my moans turn to screams. 

"Just a bit more, Moony! I'm so close now!" 

And then I come and he doesn't stop, just goes on until I give his cock the last little shove he needs to come himself. Spent, he falls back, bending my cock back down, but it only hurts a moment. He lies between my legs, breathing hard and slowly unfolds his own legs. I stretch out my hands and he takes them, pulling a bit to get up. Then he lifts himself up from my cock and drops down next to me. I only have the strength to pull him close and kiss him. He takes a deep breath. I can feel his hand snaking around my waist.

"Love you," he mumbles and falls asleep again. 

I get a few minutes to look at him before Seraina calls for us. I'm so glad for one-way silencing charms. The little ones sleep right through every noise we make in the bedroom. I'm pushing a few strands of Remus' hair out of his face when I hear Seraina. Before Remus wakes up I'm getting up, pulling on my pyjama trousers and going over to Seraina's room to lift her out of her bed and take off her sleeping bag. Since she's definitely not smelling very nice I'm taking off her nappy and clean her immediately, before putting her into a pair of baby sweatpants, a t-shirt and her slippers. She holds on to me while I go over to the bedroom to pick up my clothes for the day and my own slippers. I take Seraina down and leave her under Dobby's watch until I've done my morning trip to the bathroom. After that we both share breakfast. 

Later on Remus turns up with Denny. And still later we decide to do some more work on the Pensieve memories. As usual James and Lily are ready to accompany us. We leave the twins with the gang and head over to the small living room, where we set out the Pensieve on the coffee table. 

"Whose turn?" I ask.

"Still yours..." Sirius claims.

"You know, it's fifth year, we might just do it both at the same time," I offer.

"Okay..."

We've moved on lots, but as we're going through the memories and watch them, a lot of time goes by, I think, we have to get on with them quickly. The editor has been informed as to what we're doing and he doesn't mind, especially once he'd received a look at our stack of notes, which we'll have to wade through to actually put the book together. Now we're picking memories from our brains of the first four months of our fifth year at Hogwarts. 

**Lily**

>> Hogwarts Express. They sit together and have the usual fun, the usual conversations about pranks they want to play as soon as the Welcoming Feast is over. Nothing seems to be amiss at all between them. But if I look at Remus and Sirius they have already begun to throw glances at each other. They're fifteen, will be sixteen in just a few weeks. 

The next memory shows us a deserted hallway at Hogwarts. Sirius is running to the marble staircase, when he's accosted by Severus.

"I know why you're in a hurry, Black! And I'm going to rat on you... costs me nothing to tell Professor Farrell that you're out at night, you know..."

"Oh, really, Snivellus? And where am I going?"

"Out of the castle."

"Forget it, if you haven't noticed before I'm running to the staircase up to Gryffindor tower."

"You are hiding something, and I'm going to find out what it is. And then I'll have you expelled, Black!"

"If you'd rat on us about what you think you have to rat on us you'd only ridicule yourself, Snape."

"It's something with Lupin. I know, because he's always missing. Almost every month... so where is HE going?"

"You really expect me to tell you something like that?"

"You will. Because I know something about you which you wouldn't want HIM to know, now would you?"

"You know precisely nothing, Snape! Leave me alone..." 

Sirius turns around and continues to the staircase, climbs the first few steps, when an icy voice says:

"Oh, so you wouldn't mind that I'd let the whole school know you're a poof, would you?"

Sirius stops, but shoots back through clenched teeth:

"Couldn't care less, Snape, go ahead all you like!" 

"But you certainly would make a stop if I told the rest of the school that you're after Lupin, wouldn't you?"

Sirius slowly turns around and says:

"Even if that were the case, Snape. The only one who'd be laughed at would be you. So go right ahead. - Anything else?"

"I don't know what you're hiding, Black, but I want to know. And you're going to tell me - Imperio!"

Snape has cursed Sirius with an Imperius!!!! I can't believe what I hear and see! The next thing I see is Sirius being taken aback and looking like he's feeling perfectly happy.

"Tell me, Black... tell me now, where Lupin goes to... come on, tell me!" Snape whispers.

"Remus will be going to the Whomping Willow in a short while... he'll press a knot on the tree with a long branch. Easy to see... just do the same, there's a tunnel under the tree. You just need to follow..."

Snape grins, whispers a quick "Obliviate!", takes off the spell and Sirius shakes his head, running up the stairs, not noticing Snape going out of the castle. It takes a while until Sirius remembers that he's given away Remus' secret. Remus has left already and he meets James and Peter up in the dorm where the two prepare to follow Remus to the Whomping Willow. It must already be quite late.

All of a sudden his head shoots up. He cries out:

"James, I think, I've just done the most stupid thing in all of my life! Snape! He knows where Remus is tonight!"

He's a complete mess and James looks at him in shock.

"What? How can he know? And how do you know he knows?"

"He's got it out of me... I've almost forgotten! I don't know how that happened, I just..." 

"Sirius! Are you out of your mind? What happened?"

Sirius shakes his head. He tries to remember, knows something's happened, but he doesn't seem to remember.

"I... I don't know... James, I don't remember! It happened just a moment ago, I know that much, I know he's held me up, but I can't remember..."

Sirius breaks down on his bed, but he gets roughly pulled up again by James.

"Come on! We have to clean up your mess! Peter, go get Dumbledore!"

Peter runs to Dumbledore's office, while Sirius and James sneak out of the castle and run down to the Willow at top speed. James reaches it first, gets hold of a branch long enough to still the tree, goes down and runs along the tunnel, only to catch Snape on the last curve before the Shack. 

"Turn around, Snape! Now! Come on, out of here!"

"What's this, Potter?"

"Out of here, Snape, come on! Now! Trust me, you don't want to see this..."

But Snape sees the first bits of Remus' transformation and recognises what this means. His eyes widen.

"A werewolf? Lupin is a goddamned werewolf! Dumbledore allows a monster to be in the school? He'll be sacked for this..." Snape starts to rage, but James pulls him away and forces him back through the tunnel as fast as he can. 

Sirius meets them when they're about halfway back through the tunnel and helps push and pull Snape out of the hole and away from the tree, where they're held up by Dumbledore. Peter is nowhere to be seen.

"Severus, Sirius, to my office!" Dumbledore tells the three boys.

The memory shifts. Sirius sits in front of the headmaster's desk with tears in his eyes, while Snape rages that he's tried to murder him. Dumbledore asks Sirius quite gently what he's done, but Sirius keeps shaking his head, only remembering that he's had a confrontation with Snape earlier on. 

"I can't remember, Professor! I can't remember what I've said!"

I can see his despair. It must be horrible not to remember something, but knowing something has gone on. I suppose Snape botched his memory charm, which made Sirius remember only that there was something to remember, but doesn't know what that was anymore.

"Severus, what did he say to you?"

"He held me up when I was going to back to my house, telling me that I surely wanted to see something special. Then he told me how to get past the Whomping Willow. I didn't know he was trying to have me killed by a WEREWOLF!"

"Did you really do that, Sirius?"

Dumbledore looks a bit suspicious. He knows that Sirius is rash, but he also doesn't think, Sirius would just give Remus' secret away like this. Sirius shakes his head.

"I don't know, Professor, I wish I could remember! It's like a pad on my brain, I just can't remember..."

Dumbledore throws a quick glance at Severus.

"I shall check you for memory charms, Sirius."

Dumbledore casts the spell, then his eyes get wide and he casts another spell, which probably erases whatever memory charm has been performed on Sirius. Snape looks very worried now. He's stopped raging about Dumbledore letting a werewolf stay at Hogwarts. 

"Ah yes. A not so well placed memory charm indeed. Now, do you remember?"

Sirius shakes his head again, then he nods.

"I know we've had a confrontation. He's held me up and asked me where Remus is vanishing. He told me he'd rat on me for being gay if I didn't tell him. He even threatened to tell the whole school I was after Remus if I didn't tell him. And I told him to go right ahead, then I turned to go back up the stairs and then I heard him mutter a spell, but I don't remember exactly what that was. Sounded something like imp... imper... something. And after that I only remember walking back to our dorm. And then I remembered that he knew where Remus went, but couldn't say why I knew that he knew..." 

"Very well, Sirius. I will speak with Severus now, I can promise that he will not tell anyone anything about Remus."

Sirius looks up, hopeful. Then he asks:

"What's my punishment, Professor?"

"There will only be a punishment for being out after curfew, Sirius. Twenty points from Gryffindor for each of you three. And you will tell Remus about the incident tomorrow."

Sirius breathes in sharply and quietly replies:

"I deserve more than that, Professor. Thank you."

The memory shifts. Sirius finds his bed in the dormitory, pulls the curtains closed and curls up in a ball. Then we see him again in the morning, when James and Peter wake him up, screaming at him how stupid he has been.

"You betrayed Remus, Sirius, how could you? How could you tell Snape - SNAPE above all people - how he could get past the Willow! I guess, there's more of the Blacks in you after all. No, don't even start to find excuses, I don't want to hear them!" 

James goes on for a while and doesn't even notice how dejected Sirius looks. Sirius just stares ahead and there's a tear or two stealing out of his eye, but otherwise he remains quiet. James, his usual prat self, is already dressed and pulls Peter out of the room. Sirius sighs and gets up. Once dressed, he takes his book-bag and goes down, out of the common room and to the hospital wing. He knows, Remus is already back there and looks for Madam Pomfrey.

"Can I see Remus, Madam Pomfrey?" he asks.

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Black, he's really in a terrible shape today. Much worse than usually. Come by after dinner, maybe he'll be awake by then."

Sirius hangs his head on this news.

"Yes, Madam, I'll do that."

She smiles. 

"You're a really good friend, Sirius. He needs someone like you."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Sirius mumbles, turns and goes to the Great Hall. 

He sits down at the Gryffindor table for his breakfast, but as far away from James and Peter as he can. I can see myself looking astonished about that. James and Peter glare at him. 

**James**

My goodness, Padfoot! He's cursed you with an Unforgivable and you haven't even told me! I look at Sirius, who seems just as astonished. Actually, all three of us Marauders stand there with jaws dropped and finally Remus says softly:

"An Unforgivable? Merlin, Paddy, why didn't you ever tell us? We'd have forgiven you in an instant! Unlike my students none of us knew about the Unforgivables before our seventh year!"

Sirius shakes his head.

"Would you believe me that I didn't know? That part wasn't in my conscious memories, I'm sure. But it is pretty clear now why Snape kept his mouth shut. Ratting on you would have sent him straight to Azkaban, I guess," Sirius says.

"You bet it would. It's good that Snape seemed to have botched his memory charm slightly, just imagine if you hadn't said you didn't remember," Remus exclaims. Then: "I'm so sorry, love..."

Sirius smiles:

"Apology accepted, even though it's not necessary. I thought I had given away your secret, even though I didn't know why and how. It's Dumbledore's fault, you know... he could have told me what that spell was."

"I suppose he didn't want to give us extra ammunition against Snape," Remus says.

>> The next memory shows us Sirius going back to see Remus in the evening. When he gets there Remus smiles at him, glad to see one of his friends.

"Hello, Sirius!"

"Hi, Remus."

Remus looks worried at once. He knows Sirius inside out and can quickly tell his uneasiness. He apologises:

"I was out longer. There was something odd yesterday. I don't know what it was, but it seems I have treated myself worse than normally..."

"I know. I also know why. Somehow, Snape found his way in there. He saw you."

"SNAPE? But... but... how could he have known how to get through the tree?"

Sirius looks up with a sad expression. He sighs. He is well aware that the next words can cost him his friendship with Remus, knowing what happened now makes it easy to observe. Then he tells him tonelessly:

"I told him how to."

"What? Sirius! What have you done?"

"He pestered me with lots of nonsense until I told him. I don't know how he got it out of me, I didn't want to tell him, Remus, really... James got him out of the tunnel in time and Dumbledore got him to keep quiet about everything," Sirius blurts out.

Remus just glares at him. 

"Get out of here, Sirius! Do you know what you did? If I'd have killed or changed Snape, I could be executed! Are you aware of that? Get out!"

Sirius bolts from the room, almost leaving the door open, runs out of the hospital wing, leaving a perplexed Madam Pomfrey behind. He runs up the staircase, takes a turn and runs up one of the lesser used towers until he reaches the top, throws himself on the floor and starts to cry, shaking with sobs until he finally falls asleep, totally spent. 

I feel guilty seeing this. I throw a sideways glance at Padfoot, who swallows, but otherwise stays calm. Remus has put his arm around his mate and pulls him close. 

>> The next memory picks up from Remus' point of view. I can see Peter and myself visiting him and discussing it with Remus. The three of us are all outraged at the nerve of Sirius, ratting on his best friend like this. For by that time Remus had replaced me as Sirius' closest friend for a while already. Sirius and I were more like brothers, while the two of them were friends.

"He told SNAPE!!! Imagine the nerve of him!" my younger self cries out.

"James saved Snape's life, Remus! He'd got a glimpse of you, but James got him out of the tunnel!" Peter interjects, still in awe.

"Thanks, James. You've saved me as well, you know!" Remus says.

"I know now! Dumbledore has talked to me tonight and told me that he'd been able to convince Snape to keep it a secret."

"How can he be sure that Snape won't say anything? I still can't imagine that. Sirius said he wouldn't, but it's Snivellus!" Remus wonders.

"Haven't the foggiest. Guess, he might have something on Snape though," James waves this away. 

"Must have. - I'm so MAD at Sirius!" Remus says.

"That's just a bit of how mad I am at him, Remus!" I growl.

"Did Dumbledore punish him in any way?"

"Only took sixty points for being caught outside after curfew. Twenty for each of us three." Peter says. 

"We think, he doesn't want anyone to ask questions about you, so it's hushed up," I add. 

I'm blushing when I hear this conversation. I'm ashamed that none of us have even stopped and really talked to Sirius. It may have been partly Dumbledore's fault, as he never told any of us the real reason why Sirius had given away the secret. 

>> The next memory shows Remus back at the common room, studying with Peter and me at a table. There's nothing to see of Sirius. It must have been several days after the full moon. Remus has recovered but in those days none of us noticed anything about Sirius still being with us except for lessons. And in the lessons he usually sat alone in the back of the room.

The memories shift and we see where Sirius is. He's got his school books and a couple of other books I know very well with him in that tower room. He keeps mumbling the Animagus spells until he's sure to have them down. We watch in awe how he goes about his initial transformation with no one around, and seemingly with no scare of something possibly going wrong. We have finished the potion just two weeks before and already know what animals we will be. I watch as he drinks the potion, points his wand on himself and starts to recite the spells, one by one, steady and correctly. We can see Padfoot coming to life for the first time. Sirius shifts back with a big smile on his face and transforms again, and then back again and then he repeats the process several times. He's got a mirror set up in the room, where he can watch himself. He stumbles a bit on four legs at first. 

Again the memory shifts. This time Sirius comes into the common room, sees us at a table and heads directly to the dorm. He closes his curtains and takes out his homework to do it on his bed. I can see tears rolling down his cheeks and the next moment I can see him shift his shape to Padfoot. He whines a bit.

Another shift of the memories show him sneaking out of the castle after a short run-in with me and Moony. He vanishes in the shrubbery behind the castle and comes out as Padfoot, running into the forest in the north of Hogwarts. He runs for hours until way after curfew, then sneaks back into the castle and up to the dorm. Which is locked. He sighs and creeps back down to the common room, where he curls up on a sofa. 

The memory stops when he falls asleep, but comes up again the next morning, when Dari comes down the stairs from the girls' dorm and shakes him awake.

"Hey, Sirius! Why are you sleeping down here?" she asks.

"Guys locked me out..." he mumbles.

"Better get out of the way, before Lily catches you! She'll give you an earful about staying in the common room for the night, you know," Dari says softly.

"Yeah, I'd better get out of the way..." he replies, gets up and slinks up the stairs to the boys dormitory, not stopping there though, but up the tower until he gets to the top, where he drops down in a window seat. 

He's too late for History of Magic after that, but he manages to sneak inside the classroom without being noticed by Binns.

I know that this has been about three weeks after the 'incident'. There are a few memories showing Remus, Peter and myself. They're from Remus' point of view and watching him now I can clearly see how unhappy he is for having lost Sirius' friendship and how much he longs to have him back. But we all give him the silent treatment until it's almost too late. I watch Sirius sneaking out of the common room one evening just after dinner. He hasn't eaten properly for weeks, I supposed at the time he was sneaking down to the kitchens to get his food from the house-elves. Remus gets up and pulls his cloak on, then he follows Sirius with a small distance. He is pretty good at not being seen nor heard, our dear Remus. He can see where Sirius goes, then follows him into the shrubbery, where he watches how Sirius changes to Padfoot and runs off to the forest. Remus stays behind, his jaw almost at his feet. 

He returns to the castle. I can see how Remus wanders the halls for a while, before he has put himself together and returns to the common room. He sits back down to finish his homework.

"Where is he?" I ask.

"Out. Lost him," Remus replies. 

"Oh." I say.

The memory fades out. The next is at least a few days later when Remus passes Sirius in the common room and stops him:

"Where are you going all the time, Sirius?"

Sirius doesn't reply. Remus doesn't stop asking him until the Christmas break starts and as both of them are staying at the castle, Remus has quite a lot of opportunities to pester Sirius. Finally he tells Sirius that he's followed him. School is already back on, so there are a couple of people in the common room. Sirius runs up the stairs and Remus follows him again. Catches Sirius on the top of the tower and keeps asking.

"Yes! So I'm an Animagus, okay? What do you want, Remus? Can't you leave me alone?"

Sirius takes flight again, down the spiral staircase, through the common room and he's about to reach the portrait door when Remus calls him:

"Sirius! Don't go, please!"

Everyone present in the common room turns around to watch them. Sirius stops, turns around and finds Remus just behind him. 

"Sirius, I was shocked. Is it any wonder that I couldn't reply at once? Don't go... or let me go with you..." Remus says softly.

Sirius gives a small nod, but Remus sees it and the two clamber out of the portrait hole and start down the stairs, through the halls and out of the castle. It's icy and none of them is really dressed for the cold. None of them is talking at all. They walk away from the castle and once out of the view and on the edge of the forest, Sirius transforms. Remus just stands there, unable to say anything, but then he breaks down and hugs the dog tightly. He cuddles and caresses that dog, completely forgetting that it's Sirius underneath that black, shaggy fur. 

"You're a right Padfoot, you know!"

Sirius hasn't only been the first of us to transform, he's also the first of us who got his nickname. Of course it stuck, it was the perfect description. The two of them return to the castle and the common room, which is now almost empty apart from myself and Peter who wait for Remus and Sirius to come back. Sirius slinks past, up to the dorm. Remus stays behind.

"We've made up. You should, too, now," is all he tells us before gathering his things and following Sirius up the stairs.

The memory shifts. I know it's the next morning and we're all feeling very awkward. I look after Sirius who has vanished into the bathroom. I follow him and sit down on the bench opposite the shower stall he uses. 

"Sear!" I call.

"What?" 

"Remus says you made up..."

"Sort of..." he mumbles.

"Can we... can we start over?" I ask. 

I've bloody missed him. I can't see how he's walking around with that broken heart of his. He looks out of the stall, pushing the curtain a bit aside. 

"What?" he asks again.

"Can we start over, too? I miss you..." I admit.

Sirius' face lightens up. He looks relieved and asks:

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"I missed you, too... thought you'd want nothing to do with me anymore. Blacks and all..." 

"Sorry for that. I know it was low..."

"Forgiven..." Sirius says and turns back to his shower. 

For the first time in weeks we're back at the Gryffindor table together. It gives the others in the school something to gape at. Remus sits down next to Sirius. In the memory I get a view of the teacher's table where Dumbledore looks at our group and smiles.

When we're back studying the initial Animagus transformation the next time Sirius just calmly shows us his dog form. Peter almost faints. He's done it all alone! Of course all of us had several vials of the potion, who knows how often we'd have to try it. We watch Peter struggle. I finally manage it after three attempts. Peter has to try about half a dozen times, but then he manages, too. 

**Sirius**

To watch that short fall-out between us friends is almost harder than to watch my parents abusing me. I remember this as a gut-wrenching time and I'm really mad at Dumbledore for not telling us that I had not given away Remus' secret out of spite or for a prank but against my own will. I have never really realised why I had told Snape and knowing now that it was because I had been the victim of an Unforgivable curse - cast by a fifteen year old! It makes me really mad. Dumbledore could have spared all four of us a lot of heartache. All he would have had to say was that I had not done it out of my own will. It's amazing how much that still hurts.

>> The next few memories all have one thing in common. They show how awkward it was, how much we had to work on getting back that trust. How much sadness remains in me. I have told Remus about the dog, but I haven't told him what he means to me and how scared I was to have lost his friendship. 

In February we're ready to join Remus in the Shrieking Shack for the first time. We tell him the evening before the full moon. We're all in our dorm, preparing for bed.

"Remus, the days you are going down there to the Shack all alone are over!" I say. 

"What? You can't come along, you know that!" Remus counters immediately.

"Oh yes, we know that very well, but it will not be US really, who will go with you," James says with a grin.

"What do you mean, not really you?" Remus asks, confused.

James transforms right in front of him and Remus can hardly believe his eyes. Then he sees Peter shrinking and morphing into the rat and finally myself as the dog. He cries:

"What have you done? All of your are Animagi? That wasn't just Sirius' crazy idea?"

We all transform and I say:

"We've looked it all up. Since we knew there was no cure we looked elsewhere and found out that werewolves are no danger to other animals. So we decided to become Animagi, so we could come with you and be with you while you're transformed. You'd have no human scent in your nose, only us as animals. You won't be alone anymore."

Remus looks from one to the other and then breaks down completely. He sobs and asks:

"You did... did this... for... me? I can't believe you..."

I step up to him and sit next to him on the edge of his bed, throwing my arm around his shoulder and declare:

"We don't want you to suffer more than you have to, Remus. I solemnly swear that I'll be with you from now on through every one of your transformations, unless it's impossible for me to make it to you."

Remus turns to look at me and it's one of the first times I can see that loving glance in his eyes. Only then I had not been able to recognise it for what it really was. But he cries into my shoulder for a good while. After a while I can finally tuck him in and go to my own bed. I pull the curtains tonight, because I don't want the others to see that I'm getting rid of an erection. Thank Merlin for silencing charms. 

The memory shifts to the next evening, when we sneak out of the castle under James' cloak and find ourselves at the Willow. We hide the cloak in a box under a bush. Then we all transform and Peter runs to the Willow to prod the knot. We vanish into the tunnel and follow Remus. He's still human, lets us in through the trap door and closes it. We can hear that three bolts shoot across on the other side, fastening it securely. Remus points at the handle, which he lays flat.

"In the morning either Madam Pomfrey opens from downstairs or I am up and turn this thing three times. Couldn't do that in my changed form..." he mutters as an explanation.

We all nod. 

"Are you really sure you want... it's bloody dangerous. What if I hurt Peter?" he wants to know. 

As a demonstration Peter shoots off and vanishes under some rubble. Remus sighs and sits down on the worn rug that's on the floor. Then he shrugs his shoulders and says:

"Well, I guess Sirius is big enough to keep me from doing something to you, Peter..."

He gets up and starts to undress, putting his clothes neatly out of reach, along with his wand. We wait for the inevitable. It's the first time I'm seeing him transform and I am howling while I watch this. It's cruel! It's unbelievably terrible and it was shocking to watch. I know we were all horrified back then. But it was over after a while and then there is the wolf. I thought he was beautiful. Padfoot is up first and tentatively moves closer to the wolf, who menacingly shows a mouthful of glistening, scaring teeth. He growls, but Padfoot goes down in front of him, flat on his belly, giving a sign of submission. Moony sniffs, then allows Padfoot to rise, while Moony moves on sniffing out James and Peter. He doesn't even mind them too long, but returns to Padfoot. Moony nips Padfoot and initiates a wrestling match. The two roll around, nipping each other and barking all the time. 

We move on to the next memory. It shows us how Padfoot nudges Moony up to the bedroom and onto the bed just before moonset. Remus transforms back on the bed, amidst the three animals who are now his pack. He moans in pain and I transform as well, to give him a bit of a backrub. I check Remus over.

"Just a few scratches, Remus..." I murmur soothingly.

"Get out of here, before Madam Pomfrey comes," Remus groans.

"We will. Let me cover you up, it's bloody cold in here..."

I place the sheet and the wool blanket on the bed over him, then the three of us leave before the expected arrival of Madam Pomfrey. We can already see her coming from the castle and quickly vanish in the bushes where we've hidden James' cloak. He covers us. We wait until Madam Pomfrey has gone down into the tunnel before sprinting up to the castle. 

The next memory takes place in the Great Hall. Remus joins us for lunch. He's never before been that early, so this really has been a good transformation. 

"How are you now, Remus?" James whispers.

"Still a bit stiff, but okay."

On our way out of the Great Hall we catch Snape and send a good hex after him, making him slip on the floor and take a bit of a fall. 

"Stop that!" Remus says. 

"Aww, Remy, let us have some fun..." James pleads.

"That's not funny," Remus claims. 

We come out of the Pensieve to note down whatever we can remember. We've filled a long roll of parchment today and decide to go on for another few hours on the next day. It's time for dinner now, so we all join the gang again over at the big living room.


	19. Pensieve memories all the way

Title: Chronicles 18/?

Author: Mariann

Summary: Pensieve memories all the way!

Rating: This part R - overall anything from G to NC-17

Pairings: Sirius/Remus, Harry/Hermione, Ron/Justin, Ginny/Ernie, Draco/Parvati, Blaise/Padma, Lily/James

Disclaimer: The usual --- I'm borrowing some characters from the HP universe for my own nefarious purposes. They will be perfectly alright, when I hand them back to JKR

Feedback: yes, please? xstitcher_ch@yahoo.com 

Archive: here, Wolf and Hound, Azkaban's Lair if Nezad wants it and ??

A/N: >> ... 

**Monday, 3.1.2000 / James**

I'm really looking forward to watch the next half year of Sirius' and Remus' memories! It's those awkward days when I felt something change in Padfoot. The way he never seemed to pay any attention at his female admirers, who were following him like the tail of a comet. And how I then one day accidentally saw the way Remus looked at those girls with disdain! I knew that Remus was interested in Sirius a good long while before I suspected that Sirius was gay! I had been sent back to the dorm before I could hear what Snape had said to Padfoot, so I had no idea he swung that way. As I have been brought up by liberal parents who always said that love is the important factor I never minded gay people. But I had never met any until then. And now I saw Remus...

>> I try to remember when that was. Looks like about March in fifth year. The four of us are sitting in the library, heads buried deep in our books because the OWLS were upon us. We had only two more months or so to cram! Peter groaned every day, he had every reason to be scared. Remus wasn't as willing to help him as usual, because he was meticulously working on his own revision. I think, Remus had literally planned out every single hour outside of lessons, eating and sleeping for his revision. Colour coded! It was probably the one of two times during the reign of the Marauders that Hogwarts was completely safe from stupid pranks. I was quite determined to do well on my OWLS, so I worked. Sirius took it a bit easier he was confident he'd know most of what was asked. Enough to earn him OWLS, so he studied, but didn't overdo things. Peter probably worked most. He was glad that Remus had set him up a schedule, which he followed quite religiously. 

Sirius sits there, reads, and doesn't notice Remus, who's staring at him. He doesn't notice that there's a gaggle of girls populating another round table just behind us and that they're probably all whispering about Sirius' good looks. I don't think they would have discussed Sirius' perfect manners, because while he had them, he didn't show them towards the girls.

I turn my head and see Lily and some of her friends, some Ravenclaw girls, sit at another table near us, working quietly. I remember, what I was thinking then: If only... but she's made it quite clear what she's thinking of me...

The memory shifts. It's a Transfigurations class and we're working on something new. McGonagall has given us the lecture, we've already started to work on the practical training. Sirius and I try once and get it right, then we try it a couple of times more to get it perfect. Earns both of us a couple of points for Gryffindor and a rare smile from Minerva. As soon as Sirius has it down he turns to Remus, to give him a few pointers and sure enough a moment later Remus has it down. He looks up to Sirius, who sits next to him and smiles. It's one of those wonderful smiles which no one gets but Sirius. I remember thinking that the git didn't even notice he's the only one who gets them.

I don't know whose point of view that last memory was, but the next one is clearly Remus'. He's heading down to the prefect's bathroom, gives the password and seems very glad that the room is free. He locks it and undresses very quickly, filling the tub as he does so. It's obvious why he's in here in the middle of an afternoon, once he's down to his boxers the bulge in it gives him away. He must have come straight from the library. I hear him mutter under his breath:

"Damn it, Sirius! Do you have an idea, what you're doing to me? Now I'm losing at least an hour of revision time..." 

He slides into the tub and hisses as soon as he's got his hand around his cock. 

I look at Remus standing next to me, but he's just burying his face in Sirius' shoulder. I can't see it well, but I'll bet he's as red as a tomato. Lily and I snicker. 

>> The memory is short, we can just see him draining the tub and rushing over to the showers, then come back with a towel around his waist. He spell dries his hair, dries himself off and gets dressed. His school robes hide a lot of his quite lovely body. He's grown a lot in that last year, his shoulders are broader, he's developed muscles on his arms and has a well modelled chest. His light brown hair still has traces of gold and there's the odd greyish strand in it already, too. It's only half long, just below his ears and loads of it falls into his face. He looks boyish still, but I've always thought he has a face like one made of porcelain. I'm sure it was because he was always so pale. In any case he reminds me of one of those Meissen porcelain figures my dad loves to collect. He'd fit perfectly well into one of those pastoral scenes.

He runs out of the bathroom and up to the common room, where he picks up his books and goes up to the dorm to study on his bed. And that's when I see that Padfoot looks after him. I think, that was when I noticed why Padfoot didn't look at girls. 

Padfoot sits and reads through his third year Defence text book. He's almost done with it. 

"This is going to be easy! That's at least four subjects I'm not afraid to lose out on. I only really have to revise Herbology, Arithmancy and History. What about you, James?"

"About the same I'd say. Add Divination..."

"I knew why I didn't take that. Ancient Runes is better."

"Be glad you didn't. That old hag makes me sick every time I have to climb up to bloody North Tower. I'm going to drop it as soon as OWLS have passed. I'm only glad I've taken three electives. Still leaves me with Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy."

"What are you going to take for NEWTS classes?" Wormtail asks.

"Well, all that I can. I'll see where I get OWLS first. But I shouldn't have a problem with Transfigurations, Charms, Defence, Potions and the electives. I'm glad I can drop History and Herbology..."

"Same here. But I might take Muggle Studies. It's the only subject you can pick up any time," Sirius says.

I can see that he throws surreptitious glances to the staircase up to the boys' dorms and then sighs. Poor dear!

The next memory is Remus' again. Remus, who works almost non-stop between meals and classes. Though I know he doesn't even need to in most subjects I know he obsesses about the OWLS. He doesn't only have to prove himself, he has to prove to everyone else that he's capable of holding up and following the classes. None of us really make fun of him. Occasionally I hear one of us telling Remus to lighten up a bit, since he was the last one among us who needs to study that hard. But he waves us off.

Then the memory shifts to Sirius, who's in his bed, curtains drawn, and he's writing something on a piece of parchment. This being a memory we can actually read what he writes:

'My sweet love

How is it that I walk through the day without seeing the sun in the sky or the flowers in the grass or even the trees growing leaves again outside when I'm seeing you in front of me? You're filling up each and every one of my senses. 

My sense of sight when I see you next to me. Everything around you gets blurred, there's only you my eyes can behold. 

My sense of smell when I get a whiff of your scent, like freshly dug earth, like the forest with its thousands of scents, like air, fresh and clean after the rain.

My sense of hearing when I hear you talk. It sounds like music! It's my greatest ambition to make you laugh, because your laughter is the most wonderful sound in my ears. I think, there would only be one thing better and that would be you telling me you love me.

My sense of touch when I am allowed to hold your hand for whatever reason I can find. Your hands are so delicate and yet so strong! They caress your cat with the softest of touches yet they hold your wand in a very firm grip.

My sense of taste... that's the sense I find nothing to write about, because it will never be, my love, you will never allow me the sensation of your taste. I bet it would be sweet on my tongue, like the chocolate you let melt in your mouth, like the tea you like to sweeten. I bet it would be sweet on your lips, the remainder of whatever sweets have entered your mouth and I bet it would be nice and salty in the crook of your neck, which I would love to lick and kiss and nip...'

Sirius lies there on his belly, quill in his hand, nibbling at the end of it, then he throws the quill away, screws the inkwell shut and crumples the parchment. The text is quite poetic, I think, and it doesn't really give away the recipient of his love. Now it's very clear, but had I found it back then I would have started to guess the person through the hints he's given. There were quite a few people in Gryffindor with a cat and there were quite a few of those who loved sweets. I probably could have reduced the options to about three of the people in our house and Remus would have been one of them. 

I throw another glance, this time at Remus and I can see that he smiles. He's read the text and now it's up to Sirius to blush. I grin.

"That was lovely, Pads! Even though you never gave it to me, thank you! I love to be all of that, you know!" Remus tells Sirius. 

Sirius kisses him. Then he looks at us and admits:

"Gods, there's going to be embarrassing moments in the next few memories!"

We leave the Pensieve to dictate the impressions to the endless amount of notes we already have and I ask:

"Are you going to take even more meticulous notes for the years after Hogwarts? Methinks, you're spending an awful lot of time with this..."

"I want to. But I think I also need to see this so closely, to remember that there WERE happy times, that we all have been close. Looking at it now I can see Wormtail being the follower and not much of his own person, what about you guys?" Sirius asks.

"Yes, but he followed us into the adventure of becoming Animagi and he's surpassed his fright of Remus' wolf form to join us in there..." I object.

"That's right. I just wonder if there will be anything, any hints we should have interpreted right..." he wonders.

"I expect that will be the case, Sirius. But we were all so immersed in everything we didn't. It's as easy as that," Lily remarks.

"Let's get through this first," Remus says.

"Yes, let's..." I agree.

It's so futile to look for the mistakes we've made. We have to stick to the facts.

**Lily**

>> We return to the Pensieve to start on the last two months of that year, the last rush of revision work and James' numerous attempts to make me go out with him. They're coming up whenever we see a memory when Remus or Sirius have witnessed them. James was so plump about them, but of course he was fifteen, he was bound to be awkward and lack elegance. As for Sirius and Remus...

It's the last day before the first OWL exam. We sit at the Gryffindor table and I'm only a few seats away from the Marauders. It's as it usually is, James and Peter on one side of the table, Remus and Sirius on the other. They're talking about the free day. The first subject tested on the next day would be Defence and the three other boys try to convince Remus that he's the best in the subject anyway and no way would they let him spend the last free day before the OWL ordeal studying.

"But I have to..." he protests.

"You have to get rest. You know that the moon is waxing and it's just two days until first quarter," Sirius tells him off in a low voice.

"Yes, and so?" Remus insists.

"And so? It will be full precisely on the evening of the last exam! You'll be exhausted and you won't be nice with yourself, love! Under no circumstances will I allow you to do anything today but take a walk around the lake and lounge on the grass or on your bed or in the common room. And that's final," Sirius says with determination.

He hasn't even noticed his slip-up, but Remus certainly has. He stares at Sirius open-mouthed and whispers:

"You've called me 'love'..."

Sirius blushes deep red. He looks at Remus shyly. Remus decides to allow Sirius the lead and concedes:

"Okay, I'll not work today. But if I get failing grades you'll be responsible, Padfoot!"

"You won't, Moony. You won't fail. You simply can't, you're too good..." Sirius babbles, then gets up and leaves the table quickly.

Remus stares after him. James looks across the table and says, amazingly softly:

"You might want to follow him, Moony..."

Remus swallows hard.

"Do you think, I really should?"

"If you like him back you really should!" Peter adds.

The sun lights up in Remus' face. He quickly gets up and runs out, looking for Sirius. We follow him as he rushes through the Entrance Hall out the doors, scanning the area for either Padfoot or Sirius. He spots Padfoot, already trotting along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Remus sets off after him. He reaches the forest shortly after that and calls out for the dog:

"Padfoot! Padfoot! Come on, Padfoot, don't run away! Please!"

Padfoot stops, peeps around and watches a very puffing Remus come closer. He plops down on the ground next to the dog and starts stroking the thick fur. 

"Sirius," he whispers. "Sirius, come back out, please! I was just shocked and couldn't believe what I've heard. Please, Siri, come forth, I need to talk to you!"

He does come back and Remus tells him:

"I don't mind you calling me that, Sirius! You're my best friend and I love you, too. Don't ever be afraid to show us you're caring for us, that's just what people like your family do! People like the Slytherins. We're all warm hearted, we care for each other and it's perfectly alright to call people 'love'. My mum does it all the time!"

Oh dear! That was the wrong thing to say, Remus! But it seems to sooth Sirius and they return to the castle to spend the day with the others. 

The next morning comes without mercy and we're sitting in the Great Hall over the tests which occupy us the whole morning. As soon as it's over we're allowed to go out in the sun to catch some breath before the practical test in the afternoon. I watch as Snape, nose deep in his test paper, walks out of the castle and in the same direction as the Marauders. The four of them sit under a huge beech tree, while my younger self and some of my friends are on the edge of the lake. Snape sits down not far from them. They seem to be bored and all of a sudden I see Sirius and James closing in on Snape, who, for once, doesn't seem to have followed them on purpose. They start hexing him and I get closer to stop them from doing him more serious harm. A bunch of people are grouped around them. Even two Slytherins are there, laughing along with the Gryffindors. I'm sickened with what I see, but once I've helped Snape and have released him he calls me a Mudblood and that he's in no need of my help.

"Oh well, I won't bother the next time then, Snivellus!" I sneer, even using the boys' ugly nickname.

When my group and I have marched away, James repeats his actions of before and Snape is hanging in the air again, his robes falling down over his head. 

"Anyone want to see how I pull Snivvely's pants down? Or rather - up?" he grins. 

"Eurgh! James, that's disgusting. Even with a wand you don't want to touch THAT!" one of the girls says.

But before anything further can happen we're all called inside for lunch. 

"The mess call saves you for now, Snivellus," Sirius tells Snape.

They drop the Slytherin and head off to the Great Hall. Remus catches up with them and tells them off mildly:

"That wasn't all too elegant, you know... he'll just find more reason to make our lives hell. And who knows if he doesn't go and tell... you know what."

"Sorry, Remus. It's just that he keeps following us around everywhere and we're just trying to get him off our backs. He's a worse nuisance than Regulus is!" Sirius whines.

But during lunch I walk over to the Slytherin table when I notice Snape and Regulus with their heads together.

"Tell your mother something nice about your brother, Reg, then look how she's treating him. He's a poof and I know he's got something going with Lupin. If you tell her that you'll be in for a treat..." Snape whispers.

So that's how he pays Sirius back. He's telling Regulus things about him. We have seen him doing it before, but of course never directly. 

More memories about the exams. The seventh years are working NEWTS, we fifth years are working through our OWLS and all of us moan under the pressure. Actually, the tests are long and we have to go through them fast, but the questions aren't overly difficult. It's just a really big, fat lot.

On the last day of the exams the boys exit the Great Hall as fast as they can as soon as they're allowed to. They vanish through a door down the stairs to the Hufflepuff house and turn left into another corridor. Then they visit the kitchens and have the house-elves prepare them a few picnic baskets. Laden with food and drinks they sneak out of the castle and down to the Willow. They look around and once no one looks in their direction, James tells Wormtail:

"Okay, Wormtail, quick!" 

Wormtail prods the knot and they quickly vanish under the tree and into the tunnel. They make themselves comfortable in one of the upstairs rooms, which seems to be like an old ladies' sitting room. Remus tells them that he keeps this door locked to not destroy the furniture in there. 

Together they discuss the exams and wait for the full moon. Remus leaves at about five to present himself at Poppy's. 

"Ah, Remus! It's good that you remember. No later than eight tonight, okay?"

"Okay, Madam Pomfrey. I'll go down directly."

"Good. Watch out that your friends aren't seen," she warns him.

He looks up, somewhat shocked.

"I know they accompany you to the Willow, but it would not be good for you all if they were seen doing that. It's rather suspicious if the four of you walk there and only three return, isn't it?"

"Oh! Yes, of course. We'll watch out..."

"Very well. Have an easy one, Remus!"

Poppy hugs Remus, a hug he returns with a smile, then she releases him and lets him go. It looks like a ritual the two of them share. I've seen Remus share it with his mother, in some other memories. He returns to the Shrieking Shack and awaits the moonrise with his friends. 

It's the first time since they spend the full moon night together that they venture out of the Shack. Remus doesn't close the trap door. Once he's transformed, James and Peter go ahead, while Sirius holds Remus back until the two other animals are certainly close to the Willow. Then Padfoot darts ahead, never letting Moony pass him. Prongs, with Wormtail on his head between his impressive antlers, awaits them and he and Padfoot take Moony between them. 

It's fascinating to watch Moony! This is the first time since he's been ten that he's outside on a full moon. He stands still, his nose up in the air and sniffs. Then he starts darting in the direction of Hogsmeade, but Padfoot is there and nudges him over to the forest. Securely inside of the Forbidden Forest they find enough to do to keep Moony occupied. He's like the bear in a honey pot! He runs around, sits back on his haunches and howls. His howls come in short bits, but he does it repeatedly. Sirius helps him along and sends another few howls to the sky. Abruptly Moony looks around and starts wrestling with Sirius. When Prongs tries to come close he's being growled at with bared teeth by Moony. Moony doesn't even look at Peter, but I suppose, the little rat up there is scared shitless. 

The whole short summer night through they're racing through the forest, seeing quite a fair amount of magical inhabitants of this strange area. Sirius always keeps a lookout for the position of the moon in the sky and finally initiates their return to the Shack at about four in the morning. They're all quite tired by now and just about make it in time before Poppy is expected to show up. She doesn't come in before seven, so the three Animagi have time enough to sneak out of the tunnel. 

**Sirius**

>> The next memory shows us the four of us saying goodbye on Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross. I'm pulled away and Portkeyed home immediately. As soon as my mother, Regulus and I have reached Grimmauld Place, Regulus turns to Mother and says:

"Mum, there's something you ought to know about Sirius."

I look daggers at Regulus. Mother turns to him and asks:

"What is it, dear?"

While Regulus starts to tell her, I move back to the door, my trunk still in my hand. 

"He's got a... BOYfriend, Mum! He's a bloody poof!"

"What? - SIRIUS!!!" she shrieks, turns to me and starts off:

"Is that true? Is it not enough that you surround yourself with lowlife scum and Muggle-loving riff-raff? Must you go and shame us with being queer?"

I let the handle of the door go. I stand up straight and tell her:

"I'm gay, mother, so? Yes, I do have a boyfriend. I love him more than my life. If you don't like it - I don't care, you know!"

I know it's not the full truth. Yes, I am gay, but I don't have that boyfriend yet. But I gladly tell everyone and their brother that I love Remus with every fibre of my being. 

She looks like she doesn't know what to say, but then she hits me with a curse. It's her favourite boxing hex, the one that blows harder than her fist would ever be able to and my arms go around my stomach to protect my body as well as I possibly can while the blows are hailing down on me. I go down on my knees and curl into a ball. Not one sound comes out of my mouth. I have expected something like that of course and there's nothing I can do as I'm not allowed to use my wand. Regulus stands there, with a smug grin on his face and calmly picks up his trunk to go up to his room. That's how it always was, whenever he has brought the trouble over me, he watches and loves what he sees, then calmly leaves the site. I'd love to murder the little brat almost as much as I'd like to murder Snape! Only the thought that I would never do such a thing keeps me taking the blows until I finally can't take them anymore and pass out.

With that the memory fades. The next one is probably going to be even more horrific. I know what's coming now. It's my father blowing up on me about joining the Death Eaters. I was always convinced he was so keen of having either Regulus or I join them to avoid having to do so himself. He's not been the cleverest of sorts, but he was clever enough to know that bowing to some 'Mudblood' of the likes of Voldemort - for my father was well aware that Riddle's father had been a Muggle - would only mean becoming a slave. And he was a Black - no real Black would bow to a Mudblood. Having two sons meant one of them could be spared, join the Death Eaters and the other could take on the family tradition. Since they favoured Regulus they wanted me to be their 'contribution' to the cause.

And there it comes. I see myself waking up on the floor of my room after one of the fairly frequent beatings I've received in those few days after my fifth year. My prospects of really good grades don't impress them at all. Regulus getting an average A on his exams seems much more important. Even worse he's passed with a warning that if his grades slip even more he would have to repeat a year and, failing that, would have to leave Hogwarts. I'm sure Regulus managed to take that part from his report so our parents haven't even seen it.

The door opens and Father enters, throwing a cold look down on me and asking in an even frostier tone:

"So, did you have enough? Are you going to behave? You are to join the Dark Lord's ranks in a few hours, you'd better get up now and prepare!"

When I don't move, Father tries to use the Enervate spell, with little effect. Still, I pull myself up and say:

"I'm NOT joining those Death Eaters! You can't make me! Besides, it's a crime!"

"I'll teach you to talk back, Sirius Black! Crucio!"

For two minutes I'm put under the curse. I writhe and scream. Then Father leaves and locks the door from the outside. For a moment I'm unable to move, still feeling the pain and the shock. But then my brain registers the fact that I'm locked in and that I'll be forced to become a Death Eater if I can't get out of here within a couple of hours. I don't care for the Underage Magic bla bla for the moment and dive into my trunk for my wand. My trunk has barely been touched since I've come 'home', so there's nothing that holds me back here. I look for Tom's cage, call my owl from his perch and tell him to fly to James'.

"I'll be there, Tom! Just go, please!"

I open the window and let the owl out. Then I look around the room and grab what I think I will need or want and stuff everything in the trunk. Thank heavens for those enlargement charms on these trunks, so that they become bottomless. I throw everything inside I can find in my wardrobe which still fits me, some of the pictures on my desk, the books, Tom's cage and my broom. Then I pick up my alarm clock and program the Portkey as I've learned just a few months ago. Remembering that we've joked about me having to flee from my ancestors' house once and learning this... I sit down on my trunk so it would come with me, grab the clock and tap my wand on it. 

"Portus," I whisper and the next moment I'm vanishing and land on the front steps of the Potters' house, which I have only seen on pictures, but for this very purpose. 

The next memory is when I come around and James who sits cross-legged on my big four poster bed grins at me:

"Padfoot! Finally! Mum was so worried! I go and tell her you've come around!"

Never have I seen such a relieving sight as James' grin right then. He races out of the room, only to return a few minutes later with a smiling Mrs Potter. 

"Hello, Sirius! I'm so relieved you're awake. You've been out of it for two days and we've had quite a bit of work to cure the after effects of the Cruciatus curse on you. How are you feeling?" she asks.

I swallow.

"Okay, I think. Just a bit sore. And a bit dizzy..."

"That's alright then, the potion has worked. It will be over in maybe another day. Marcus will have a couple of questions to you about that Cruciatus curse though. Are you ready to reply to them?"

"I think so. - Was there an owl because of my underage magic?"

"Yes, there was, but don't worry, as soon as I'd looked at you a bit closer we've established that getting away from an Unforgivable curse was regarded as necessary self-defence, so there will not even be a hearing. You're off that hook."

I'm even more relieved and I must have shown it for she smiles and ruffles my hair.

"You're going to be alright, Sirius, for now you stay here..."

"Thank you, Mrs Potter. I don't ever want to go back there!"

The memory shifts and it's Mr. Potter who sits on my bed now. We're alone and he looks at me with a grave face.

"I need to hear your story, Sirius, even if it should be very painful. My wife has found that you showed all signs that victims of the Cruciatus curse show and she's convinced that someone has put you under that curse. What happened?"

"My father wanted me to join the Death Eaters. He's tried to beat me to agree. When I still wouldn't agree he did curse me with... Cruciatus."

Mr. Potter nods and says:

"You know that we have to take this on, Sirius? We can get you off the hook from the underage magic by informing the board of governors that you have strictly used a spell for self-defence, to get out of a life-threatening situation. They only know you used a spell and we claimed it has been the spell to summon the Knight Bus which got you to us. We can't tell them that you've made a Portkey, Sirius, that would bring you into big trouble..."

"Please... can't you just say that he cursed me, but not with what? I'm scared of what would happen if we did take this on. I'm dead sure they'd get him off the hook! You know how much influence Father has on the Ministry..."

"Unfortunately I do. Are you sure?"

I nod. 

"As long as I don't have to go back there..."

"No, I think, we can prevent that. I'm quite sure they will hush it up and in little over a few months you're coming of age... we'll gladly provide for you, Sirius. You deserve some relief from them. From what my son tells me it hasn't been easy for you at your home."

I see my younger self hanging my head and whisper:

"That would be the understatement of the century."

Mr. Potter lifts up my chin.

"Has this happened before, Sirius?"

"Not with Cruciatus, sir. But I've been unconscious a number of times."

Mr. Potter sighs. Then he carefully hugs me and promises:

"You'll not have to suffer from them anymore, Sirius. We'll see how they react once they've found out you have left your home and will go from there."

The next memory is of a visit from Uncle Alphard two days later after he's received my owl. He's there immediately and talks to me and then to Mrs Potter, who's joining us in my room.

"Mrs Potter, you have no idea how relieved I am to see Sirius out of that house. He has been mistreated from the start and I have been kept away, so that I could not help him. I will provide for everything he needs to buy for school and please tell me if you want me to give you anything while he stays here. Clothes, books and the likes. That's two out of five children of my family safe!"

"Mr. Black, thank you, but we gladly provide for him. Over the years I've heard some horrific stories about Sirius' home life. You're quite right, he deserves a reprieve."

"Just tell me. I'll come up with his pocket money at least. I'm sure you prefer to stay here with your friend, Sirius, don't you?"

"If I may, Uncle Alphard. I just want to stay in contact with you, too!"

"Of course, dear! Now that you're out of that awful place I'll be happy to come and see you regularly. I'll be on a business trip to Switzerland next week, I'd gladly invite you and James for that if you want to come..."

"Switzerland? - That's where Remus lives..." I breathe.

"Is it? Well, write an owl to him and see if you can visit your friend, the two of you and then I'll take you! Do you know where exactly it is that Remus lives?" 

"He says it's close to the capital..."

"Berne. I have to be in Zurich, but that's not far away, so it won't be a problem to drop you off there if Remus' parents allow it."

Mrs Potter looks pensive. She tries to remember if there's a full moon during the next two weeks. I watch myself telling her:

"Don't worry, Mrs Potter, there's none for the next four weeks, it's just passed..."

She nods, understanding, then she smiles.

"Then I can't imagine Mr. and Mrs Lupin having anything against you two visiting, Sirius. Shall I write them the owl?"

"Please, Mrs Potter!"

"I will then. Will we remain in contact, Mr. Black?"

"But of course. I have to leave on Monday and will return here about a week later if the negotiations go well."

"Lovely. I'm sending Fanny a letter then."

This was, of course, a great turn of events. I recover from the curse in another day or two, with the help of several potions from Mrs Potter and then the owl from the Lupins comes back, telling the Potters, that James and I will be very welcome at their place. 

I watch the happy dance the two of us perform through the spacious Potter atrium. Mr. Potter watches us, too, and grins.

Then Uncle Alphard comes to pick us up and we Portkey to Switzerland, where we arrive in the Lupins' living room. They welcome the three of us and thank Uncle Alphard for dropping us off safely. Remus is there with gleaming eyes and looks overly happy to see us during his otherwise lonely vacation. He pulls us up to his room, which has been fitted with another bed, so that the three of us have enough space to bunk. 

"Because we have my aunt, uncle and cousin here we have to share my room, so one of you will have to share with me, but the bed should be big enough..." Remus remarks.

"Sirius can do that! I'm snoring..." James decides immediately. 

Then we get images of that happy week together with Remus. We learn to know his cousins, Céline, Yves and Sabine, all three quite nice. The father of the other cousin who is there is a diplomat, so he and his family are living abroad, but they are in Switzerland at the time. Remus tells us that they always stay with either his aunt Carine or his mother. The cousin's name is Melina and her mother is a sister of Mrs Lupin, but her father is a Muggle and she is a Squib. We never tease her about it and she is quite a nice girl. She's just a few months younger than Remus and I. Her parents and Melina hold the two guest rooms in the house, which is why James and I have to cram into Remus' room. Not that we mind though. Mrs Potter gives James and I a potion, which helps us understand the others and enables us all to talk together. 

The seven of us are off to the forests, playing broom tag, listen to Remus' Muggle records, visit the town, the animal park, go swimming and one day Mrs Potter even takes us to the mountains by train and we get to cross the lake of Thun by ship. 

I remember this as pure bliss! James and I dread the day we have to go back to England, because it's so good to be together with these friendly people. A few owls are sent back and forth and Mr. Potter finally agrees to come and pick us up another week later. 

More fun. We talk with the three magical cousins of Remus' about Beauxbatons, compare it to Hogwarts. The education seems quite similar. Their school sounds awesome. We visit them in their home, meet their parents and get to see their school robes and things.

In the middle of the time spent in Switzerland we find three school owls at the breakfast table one morning. They bring the OWL results and the school letters. 

"What are you waiting for, boys, open them!" Mrs Lupin commands with a smile.

Melina sits there and asks:

"What is that?"

"OWLS!" Remus moans. 

"Come on, Remus, you're not afraid of your grades, are you?" Melina teases. 

She may be a Squib, but she's obviously spent enough time in the Lupin household to know a bit about the wizarding world. Remus shoots her a glare and sighs, then he slits his envelope open to pull out the contents. Three pieces of parchment come out. James is a bit further gone, he's just unfolded his grade sheet, when he fists the air!

"Yes! I've got eight!" he exclaims.

"Is that good?" Melina asks.

"That's pretty good, Melina. I've got eight, too, James!" Remus says, much calmer now.

"What's your grades?" James wants to know.

"O in Defence, History and Charms, E in Transfigurations, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. A in Astronomy and Potions."

"Potions? You have an OWL in Potions? Wow, Remus!" I cry out, studying my own grades.

"And you, Padfoot?" James asks.

"Ten. O in Defence, Transfigurations, Charms, Potions and Arithmancy, E in Ancient Runes, Astronomy, History, Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology," I tell them.

They all stare at me. That's ten OWLS and I get five Os. I grin and they start to hoot.

"Wow, Sirius! I wouldn't be astonished if you've beaten Evans with that!" James cries.

"That is a really fine achievement, Sirius," Mrs Lupin compliments me.

"Absolutely. You're a top student if you get that many OWLS. Congratulations, Sirius!" Mr. Lupin follows suit.

"Thank you! I'm floored! I expected good grades, but I wasn't half sure about Herbology and Ancient Runes..."

"For what little you worked..." Remus grumbles.

"You've done very well yourself, Remus. Look at that score sheet! It tells me that you've only just failed the rest of your subjects by very close margins. Now you'll be able to concentrate on your NEWTS level subjects and you'll certainly do even better then!" Mrs Lupin consoles her son.

"Yeah, I know. But I failed them and that makes me angry!"

"Don't worry, you were doing sensationally well, and those tests were right before the full moon," I insist.

"That's one reason why I'm angry, Sirius," Remus sighs. "But don't let me put you down, you've done great! I'm glad one of us four is up there giving Evans a little push!"

"That should be my line, Moony!" James says.

I grin. But then I get a bit angry, when I remember:

"To think that Regulus' prospect of just about scrambling enough points to move to next class was worth more to my parents than my prospects of scoring among the best for OWLS!"

"Just wait until you get the official ranking..." James warns me.

"I'm in the top quarter, that's for sure. What do most people get? Five, if it comes high, six OWLS..." I shoot back.

The next image is James and myself travelling back to the Potters' home and taking our stuff up to our rooms. The memory shifts and we're sitting in James' bedroom, idly talking. The next year should be easy again and we discuss the subjects we'll take. Then, quite surprisingly, James asks me:

"You like Remus, don't you?" 

"'Course I like Remus, James! We all do, don't we?"

"Peter and I don't like him the way you do, Padfoot."

"What do you mean?" I play rather dumb. 

It has been quite easy to shrug off Snape's threats to tell everyone about my sexual orientation. I could have held my head up high and just shrug. But James talks about liking Remus that way, so he's suspected that I might be in love with our friend. I can feel my face heating up. 

"I've seen how the two of you look at each other. Wasn't hard to recognise that it's the same way I look at Lily."

"We look 'at each other'? Remus looks at me?"

"Sirius! Are you dumb? You've just scored TEN bloody OWLS and you don't even recognise your best friend looking at you 'that way'? Come on!"

"No, I didn't. But I'd be glad if he did," I admit.

James grins. 

"Do you want me to poke around a bit when we're back at school?"

"You mean ask him, what he feels?"

"Yes. I'm quite sure about it already, but maybe he doesn't dare making a start. You know how he is. He's probably deathly scared to lose your friendship if he mentions anything."

"Merlin, James, what do you think is MY problem? Exactly that! I don't want to blubber out something only to learn that it's disgusting him!"

The memory shifts after James' reassurance that he thinks nothing of that sort will happen. We're at the Lupins' kitchen table in Switzerland. Remus is alone at lunch with his mum. 

"Is there something between you and Sirius, love?" she asks him. 

Must be just after we've left. Melina isn't around, which gives mother and son privacy enough to talk about these things. 

"NO!" Remus protests.

"But you'd like it to be, wouldn't you?" she pokes.

Remus hangs his head. Then he sighs and admits:

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he'll ever... I don't want to lose his friendship, mum! If I say something... you know how the Blacks are, they've certainly hammered it into him that it's unnatural and abominable or something..."

Mrs Lupin grins slightly.

"The way I've learned to know Sirius a bit better in the past few days I'd reckon this would be the very thing it takes for Sirius to think it's the most perfect thing in the world, love."

Remus looks up. He smiles a bit, then he swallows and agrees.

"It would, wouldn't it? But mum, what if..." he stops.

"What?"

"If I would prefer boys, would you be angry?"

"No, Remus, I don't think I would be angry about something that would make you happy. You have a hard enough time to be happy and the circles you can move in with ease are small enough. That you'd love another boy would certainly not make me angry or unhappy. And I like Sirius..."

"He's nice, isn't he?" Remus says and gets a dreamy look.

Mrs Lupin grins again and pats him on the back.

"You'll work things out, love, you always do. I'm proud of you, you know!"

"Thanks, mum."

"Have you boys made up a date to go to get your school things already?"

"No. We'll wait after the next full moon..."

"Good."

After that there are a couple of memories of Remus spending more time with his cousins and of James and my time together at the Potters'. Uncle Alphard visits us a couple of times, but he's not looking well. Despite him being Father's younger brother he's looking like he's ill most of the time and he confirms it when he comes to supply me with money to buy my school things. I need new robes and I have to fill up the Potions kit and of course there's the school books, parchment, a couple of quills and other little stuff. He gives me a purse with almost a hundred Galleons.

"This is for your school year and for your school things. I think, it should cover it, shouldn't it?"

"More than that, Uncle Alphard. I only need about twenty Galleons."

"Well, the rest is yours, Sirius. - Now, do you already know when you will be going to Diagon Alley to shop?"

"Yes, next Tuesday in a week."

"Fine. Can you spare about two hours of that day for me? I'd like to take you and Andromeda to my lawyers."

I stare at him wide eyed and he just smiles.

"It's just a precaution, to make sure that you and Andromeda will get what will belong to you both. I don't want anyone else of the Black clan stretch out their greedy hands after what I've gained over the years. - Sirius, this is an important meeting. I am not healthy. Over the years I've contracted a number of nasty bugs on my many travels, and not all of them have been healed. They've done some damage to my internal organs that can't even be healed magically as it seems. For that reason I don't know how long I'll be alive to help you along. I want to make dead sure that you are independent from your family. The Potters are looking after you well and they have promised to do so until you leave Hogwarts. Probably even beyond! Now, don't you be sad about that, I'm still here and I'll try to hold on as long as I can, okay?"

I look at the only adult in my immediate family I can respect and love with fear in my eyes. Now that I've just found him again I don't want to lose him! But I nod and promise to meet him at two in the afternoon at Florean Fortescue's. 

"Very well, Sirius. I'll tell Andromeda to meet you there, too."

The next memory is of our meeting Remus and his parents in the Leaky Cauldron to go shopping. Remus looks quite well again after the full moon. He smiles as he usually does and we wait for Peter to arrive and then set off to do our shopping.

"I only have until just after lunch. Can we have a late lunch at Fortescue's? My Uncle Alphard has asked me to meet him and his lawyers just after two..." I ask.

"Yes, of course. My mum already knows about that. We'll go home and your uncle will accompany you home," James assures me.

"Oh, good."

"What does he want with you?" Peter asks. 

"I think, it's something with his last will. He wants some things cleared in Andy's and my presence. You know Andy, my cousin? She's Bella's oldest sister and the only one in that family who's normal," I explain.

"Oh."

"Let's go now!"

We move from the pub on to the shops, go through them and pick our stuff up. Finally we all drop on a couple of seats around a big table in the cool ice cream parlour. That's where Andy finds us a short while later. She's with her husband and presents us her little daughter, Nymphadora, who's a cute button of seven years now. I haven't even seen her yet. Andy introduces us and takes a seat at the table.

"We've had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, but we'll share your dessert!" Andy says brightly.

Nymphadora's little nose scrunches up happily and we all blink, because in the next moment she doesn't have black, but electric blue hair.

"What's THAT?" I ask, pointing at my niece.

Andy spells the hair back to normal and chides her daughter:

"Dora, what have I told you about control? You can't do that in public, not even unintentional!"

"Sorry, mum!"

Then Andy tells us that her daughter has been diagnosed to be a Metamorphmagus and explains that it means she can turn herself to look anything she likes. 

"But it's quite hard for her to hold herself in and not change into anything else in public yet." 

**Remus**

It's Sirius' memory. Sometimes it's hard to say, but since we follow Sirius and the Tonks family I know it's his. I watch him go, longing in my eyes, but I act cheerful. 

"Do you know the way, Andy?" Sirius asks.

"Yes, Sirius, that's why Uncle Alphard has gone there directly. Come, it's not far."

They walk along Diagon Alley, and about half the way through Andy turns right into another little alley, then she knocks on the door of a house about four houses into the alley. The door is opened for them and Andy presents her little group:

"We're expected, my name is Andromeda Tonks-Black, this is my husband and my daughter and my cousin Sirius Black."

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, please enter right here. You are indeed expected. I think, the gentlemen have just finished their conference," a young wizard greets them. I recognise a former student of Hogwarts, who has left about two years ago, a Ravenclaw.

"Thank you."

The group is led into a conference room just a moment later. Next to Sirius' uncle there are three men of different ages. Two are definitely quite old, the third is about Alphard's age, around sixty. They all stand up when the young people step into the room. Uncle Alphard goes to them and greets Andromeda first:

"It's a pleasure to see you, dear! How are you?"

"Hello, Uncle Alphard! I'm perfectly well, thank you. Rather unlike you, it seems..."

"Yes, it doesn't look good. Feel a bit sad about the prospects of leaving this world before my dear brothers do, but there you are. Nothing doing about it, I'm afraid. Well, let me do the introductions then. These are the three lawyers currently involved figuring out what I own and dividing it among the two of you. This is Mr. Lynton, this is Mr. Quigley, and this is Mr. Blake. Dear friends, this is my niece, Mrs Andromeda Tonks-Black, her husband Theodore and their daughter Nymphadora. And this delightful lad is my nephew, Sirius Black. They will be the recipients of my fortune."

"That'll please the rest of the clan..." Sirius mutters, but offers his hand with a polite greeting to the three lawyers. 

Alphard and Andromeda laugh out. Then Alphard says brightly:

"I don't know how familiar you are with inheritance laws, Sirius, but let me tell you that I actually HAVE to leave them something or my will would be naught. The minimum that needs to be left to a family member is one Knut. Will be a sad day when I can't see their faces as they get their Knut!"

Mr. Lynton seems to be the chief lawyer and he takes over the lead, still chuckling. He guides the party members to their seats and remains standing at his own place. 

"Now then, let's start this meeting. We have young Mr. Quigley over there to record the procedures. This is a meeting to familiarise the future heirs of Mr. Alphard Black, Esquire, with their future inheritance. Mr. Black's intention is to make sure that both heirs are in the know about the contents of his last will, written and signed here today, Friday, fifteenth day of the month of August in the year 1975. I will proceed to read the will to the concerned parties, namely Mrs Andromeda Tonks-Black and Mr. Sirius Black. Should you have any question please interrupt me, ladies and gentlemen."

A fairly longwinded reading of the will follows. From this I can take how wealthy Alphard Black was. Basically he's leaving half of his assets to each, Andy and Sirius. But there are a lot of complicated explanations about existing funds, trusts, land, houses and things, which need to be split up and let to the two in equal shares. There are at least three houses mentioned. After half an hour of reading the end is reached and the lawyer inquires if there are any questions. Andy and Ted have some and they get their replies. Sirius has one, too:

"If Uncle Alphard should die before I'm of age - who'll be in charge for my part? My parents?"

"Merlin forbids, no! The trustees for your share will be the Potters, who will be allowed to set the access you gain to your inheritance. They will discuss this with us of course."

"Ah. Good. Just as long as my parents have no way to stretch out their hands to this. I think, they've more than enough already."

"We expect the will to be disputed by both sets of your parents, but we've been very careful not to leave them anything that would allow them to get through with a claim in court. It will probably be settled out of court even. No sane lawyer would pull a claim to take this will to court. It would ruin his or her career for sure," Mr. Lynton says with a twinkle in his eye, not unlike Dumbledore's. 

Sirius grins.

"Then I'm happy and hope that we don't have to come back here for many years. I'd rather have my uncle than his money."

Uncle Alphard throws a very loving glance at his nephew. What a nice thing to say! He certainly reaches the hearts of the three lawyers for they all smile brightly at him.

"That's much better anyway, isn't it? Thank you for coming, I think we have now done what we could to prevent anyone from trying to steal from you in the future."

Everyone gets up and the lawyers guide their clients to the door, where they shake hands with all of them. 

"Mr. Black, it's been a pleasure to get your business as usual. I hope, like the young master Black, that we will not have to read it again for a long time."

"Thank you, Mr. Lynton, so do I."

Alphard waits until the others have said their goodbye as well, then he leads them through Diagon Alley to the Leaky Cauldron. They don't hurry, but enjoy their time together. 

In the next few of Sirius' memories we can see quite a lot of Alphard Black. Sirius is delighted to see him often and tells him of all the Muggle books he's read since then and how he's come by them. My name gets mentioned quite a few times and I'm quite sure that the elderly man has picked up a few hints as well. 

"Sirius, how have your parents reacted to your flight?"

"Strangely not at all. It's as if nothing happened, no letter, no Howler, no nothing."

"That can only mean they have found out that they can't disinherit you. Must have been a hard bit to swallow. They need the votes of every member of their generation to revoke that family law. It's in the family statutes. What's even sweeter is that the same way they can't overrule it with one different vote they can't even ask to throw it out as soon as the generation isn't complete anymore. That's always only the immediate Blacks, of course. The head of house and their siblings that is. In other words, your father, uncle Rigel and myself. And our oldest sister Vega, if she was still alive."

I can see the grin spreading on Sirius' face.

"That must have been very hard for Regulus to take! He's so keen on getting the family inheritance!"

"Well, you'll be able to snatch up most of it. The Blacks have always been wealthy, Sirius, but at a time they've been so at each others' throats that they started to disinherit once too often and when there was only one male heir left to procreate he was reasonable enough to have these few laws added to the family statutes. No possibility to fully disinherit an heir and no change of some of the points in the statute without the consent of the full number of siblings in the head of house's generation. Only exception from that law is if a sibling died before reaching maturity. Which is not the case, Vega died in childbirth, she was over twenty then."

"That means that I couldn't change anything in the family statutes without Regulus' consent?"

"Exactly. But you're safe from him trying to change something, too."

"Yes, of course. Brilliant. Thanks, Uncle Alphard."

"You're very welcome, Sirius. I'm glad you've grown into the young man I'd hoped you would! I noticed from the start that you're someone different than my brother and his terrible wife. Sorry to speak about your mother like that, lad, but she's far worse than your father."

"Don't I know?" Sirius mutters.

Alphard grins. 

"Just believe me that the Blacks weren't always like this, Sirius! They were always proud of their pure blood, but that alone is nothing bad. It only becomes bad if one deliberately puts others down just because their blood isn't as old wizarding as ours. I notice you've got a fine group of friends, stick to them, they'll replace your family very well."

"I will, Uncle Alphard. Thanks for all your help and support!"

"Again, you're welcome. I'll see you when you come back for the Christmas break, Sirius!"

The next memory is of our meeting at King's Cross, where we get to see a glimpse of the Blacks, but apart from a glower Sirius notices nothing from them. When we board the train, he explains the reason:

"They're mad, because they have found out they can't disinherit me, because I'm the heir. They'd have to kill me, if they want Regulus to become the heir. That's what my uncle said, anyway."

"That only means you're in danger of being murdered by your own family," Peter remarks.

"I don't think so. Father's a bloody coward and it would be a bit too obvious. He wanted me to become a Death Eater mostly so that he didn't have to, you know. I've seen right through him. Bloody Voldemort. As if I wanted to crawl in the dirt at his seam! Blacks command, they don't take commands!"

James grins. 

"So, you want to rule the world in your own right or what?"

"Are you crazy? I just want to live! Ruling the world would be much to exhausting. And boring, too."

A shift of the memories brings us to the dorm, where we discuss the schedule, which looks a bit different for most of us. Peter only has five subjects, we'll see him in Charms, Transfigurations and Defence. Sirius has dropped History and Herbology. That means he has the same schedule as I have, he only has Care of Magical Creatures where I have History. James still has Divination instead of Ancient Runes. Apart from that he has the same schedule as Sirius. It also means we've still got quite a load. The three of us still have seven subjects. 

Lily is in almost all of our classes. She has made ten OWLS, like Sirius, but he's managed an Outstanding more. She fumes that one of us ranks before her, but Sirius is third over all in the year and he's left Snape seven places behind, which puts him in an excellent mood. Two Ravenclaws are better than Sirius, by one OWL and both have six Outstanding OWLS. I'm just at the end of the top ten, but still one place better than Snape. James is one place ahead of me because of his higher amount of Es. I'm happy with the result. I have topped Defence. Sirius tops Transfigurations and shares the top spot in Potions with Snape. They have the same number of points in this subject. 

The school year starts. I particularly enjoy Arithmancy and Ancient Runes now, as these two subjects aren't very popular and many students have dropped them, but that gives the remaining ones the opportunity of a more intensive learning experience. I see several memories, from either mine or Sirius' point of view, because we both loved those classes.

Then there's one of my memories when James catches me in the dorm and stops me from going out.

"Remus? May I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?" I ask, turning back to him.

"Do you still like Sirius? I mean, 'that' way, you know?"

I can see my younger self blush and stutter.

"What... what do you mean 'still'?"

James grins and reminds me:

"Well, you remember the day when Sirius called you 'love' and we told you to follow him if you liked him?"

"Oh. That. So that's what you meant then..."

"Of course. We hoped, that the two of you would get together, but seemingly nothing happened. I just thought I'd ask..."

"Will you tell Sirius?" I hear myself ask.

"What if I do?"

"I don't know. Yes, I like him. Would you mind that very much?"

"No, not at all. I mean, it's obviously not my thing, but it doesn't gross me out."

"But if you tell Padfoot he might not want to be my friend anymore..." I object.

"Remus, we've become Animagi for you. Even if Sirius doesn't swing that way, he won't stop being your friend. He might just be a bit awkward at first. But I know he really likes you, so I wouldn't worry about it."

I watch myself sigh. Then James lets me go. The memory changes. James finds Sirius in the library where Sirius checks some books for a prank we want to pull. We need a potion and a couple of spells for it, so Sirius does the research and tells James of the potions ingredients he needs. James is usually the one to go and nick them from the students stores and sometimes even from Farrell's private stores. 

"Sirius, you needn't be afraid of losing your friend. Talk to him. Soon!"

Sirius looks up and smiles.

"Really? What did he say?"

"That he likes you. And he thinks about you what you think about him. Better seek an opportunity to talk to him soon."

"Thanks, mate! You're the best brother ever, James!" 

"Glad to be of help. Wish, that someone could help me! Lily is just as disinterested as ever."

"Give her time. We're strictly not allowed to hex Snape anymore, so we can act like we're behaving..."

"You're right about that. Have you found it?"

"Yeah! There's a potion that can make your skin crawl and not leave any permanent damage. It's just a question of feeding it to the Slytherins so they'll feel the effect during the day or during the night. If we add a colour spell, then I'd suggest during the day. Young Bill Weasley has offered to slip them the drinks in the kitchen. He'll just pour the potion into the juice jugs."

"Now there's a promising lad! He's a second year, isn't he?"

"Fine lad if ever I met one! Second year, yes. I promised him a bag full of sweets from Honeyduke's the next time we get to go to Hogsmeade," Sirius explains and grins.

"Great. I'd say during the day then, so Bill can slip down to the kitchens before everyone else is up. How does it feel on the skin?"

"Oh, harmless. Just like some soft waves lapping at the shore, but over a period of up to twelve hours, depending on the concentration of the potion. It's probably more in the head than a real feeling. A cup full of undiluted potion would be enough for a full day a few drops make you feel it for a few minutes. We can test it easily."

"Good. Then we put the spell on the food. Do you think, Bill can do that?"

"Yep. He's excellent with Charms. Tells me he's been the best in his year in Charms and Defence. He sounds like a brilliant kid."

"Great. I'll teach him the spell then. Let's go back to the dorm."

The next memory shows Sirius brewing the potion. A very young Bill Weasley with short red hair, freckled face and clear blue eyes sits on one of the armchairs in the dorm, watching Sirius. James is there, Peter is there and I sit on the window seat, studying. 

"Just one more ingredient, like so-ho. Done! Now we've got to let it cool down a bit. I take a bit out to cool it quick. Who wants to try it? Just a drop or two, so it won't be longer than a minute!" Sirius calls cheerfully.

No one seems to be particularly interested. Sirius grins, puts a few drops on his tongue and swallows the potion. After it takes effect he grins.

"That's great! Nothing hurts, nothing itches, you just get a feeling like you're under the shower and water is running all over you! Have that for a day and it's getting pretty annoying, I'll bet. Come on, guys, do me the favour and try it yourselves! It's fun!"

Bill finally steps forward and Sirius gives him two drops. Bill starts to giggle and squirm.

"He's right! It's really nothing bad. Why's this thing been invented, Sirius?"

"No idea. But the silly kinds of potions out there you wouldn't believe! We've even come across a potion that makes the hair in your nose grow long, can you believe it?"

James, Peter and myself do Sirius the favour and experience, what we have in mind for the Slytherins. I grin and admit:

"Yes, no one will charge us with cruelty for that. But what's the spell?"

"Oh, nothing worse. Only that they will be 'showered' in the colours of the rainbow in the same rhythm they will feel the water on their skin. Only on their skin, too, but it will give them funny heads and hands..."

"Okay. When do we do it?"

"Tomorrow morning alright, Bill?"

"Yes, sure. Can you come wake me? Only if I set my alarm, the others in the dorm will wake up, too..."

"'Course! I'll do it," James promises.

Then he starts teaching Bill the spell. 

James laughs and remarks:

"If you put that in your book and Molly reads it she'll be mad at Bill even after all these years! I bet, that Bill has forgotten about this a long time ago."

I'm not so sure. Young Bill Weasley was quite impressed by the Marauders and in our sixth and seventh year he hung around with us quite a lot. I don't think he's forgotten about that.

**James**

>> The memory shifts to the next morning, when everyone arrives at the breakfast table. Bill grins just slightly, like he'd be very happy to see us. We're not showing any visible emotions other than our usual chatty selves. We take a seat close to the second years around Bill and wait for the show. Which starts as soon as the first people at the Slytherin table take their first few sips from their goblets containing juice. Bill has worked perfectly well. The spell on the food only works together with the potion, which is why those people who have eaten don't show the colours until they have also drunk some of the juice. But once that's the case half of Slytherin house starts looking at each other and several shrieks are audible. I watch myself slapping my hand together with Bill - under the table. 

Everyone apart from the Slytherins grins. The teachers of course try to find out what has happened to the students and don't need help to calculate that they're victims to a prank. But since no one apparently seems badly harmed or even injured McGonagall tells the Slytherins to just grit their teeth and wait until it wears off. She's seen enough of this kind of pranks to know that it does wear off. I grin, because this time we'll get away with it.

We're going to our lessons with happy faces and even Lily seems to enjoy the colourful display of Slytherins. Snape passes her and throws her a:

"Get out of the way, Mudblood!"

"Seen one too many rainbows, Snivellus?" Lily asks.

And everyone who hears it, laughs straight out. And I like her even more. So much for Saint Evans. We file into the Potions classroom, passing Farrell and take our usual places. There's six Gryffindors left in this class. Lily usually partners with Dari, Sirius partners Remus and I get together with another Gryffindor girl, Melanie, one who's a bit less outspoken than Lily or Dari, but we get along well and she's pretty good in Potions. 

"The instruction for today's blood replenishing potion is on the board, get working," Farrell hisses and everyone scrambles around to get the ingredients. 

We all work on the potions quietly. I can see Sirius carefully helping Remus, who's great in theory, but has a lot of problems in the practical. A good thing in partnering is that a stronger student can really help a weaker to keep up their grades. I surreptitiously check who's with whom in Slytherin and see that Snape partners Bellatrix Black. They're the two strongest Potions students in Slytherin. Then there's Wilkes and Avery, who stick together and they would never separate. Typical. Both of them could help the weaker classmates, because some of them are abysmal. Amazingly Lestrange is one of them, I really have no idea how he has found into this class. 

I watch my younger self concentrate on our potion. It comes along just fine, clears in three phases as it has to and finally takes on a red colour when we add the main ingredient, which is the powdered Mandrake root. All we have to do is wait for a few minutes and extinguish the fire. After that we're just sitting behind our potion waiting for the period to end. Remus, Sirius, Lily and Dari reach that point, Snape and Bellatrix do, Wilkes and Avery, too, but the rest of the Slytherins seem to be in trouble. Farrell passes and fills samples into glass bottles, labels them and sends us along to clean up.

We're getting to the next memory. It's obviously a Saturday in October as we're outside in the morning. Actually I can just see myself head off to the Quidditch pitch and Peter is nowhere to be seen, so Sirius and Remus are by themselves. They go for a walk along the forest, and as soon as they're away from everyone's sight, Sirius transforms and starts digging in the freshly fallen leaves, puts his nose on the ground and sniffs his way along.

"You really are a dog, Padfoot. Incredible. How about playing fetch?" Remus suggests jokingly. 

Padfoot storms off and comes back a little later with a smallish stick in his mouth and an expectantly wagging tail. He sits down and drops the stick. Remus holds his belly he's laughing so hard.

"You can't be serious, Paddy! I've said that as a JOKE!"

Padfoot tilts his head and nuzzles Remus' thigh, licks his hand and looks up again.

"Oh, you big puppy, you!" Remus cries, grabs the stick and throws it.

Padfoot races after it. It's gone quite a bit and Remus enjoys watching the huge dog run gracefully, retrieving the stick for another chase. This time he's off with the stick and almost catches it before it falls. It's fun to watch. Remus walks slowly until he reaches the gates, where he turns and returns to the castle. But he still follows the edge of the forest. Sirius finally changes back and pants.

"Brrr, I need a shower..." he says.

"I'd say so, too. Come on, we'll take advantage of the prefects' bathroom!"

Remus hurries back and they find the bathroom empty. They frolic in the huge bathtub first, still in their underwear, but then Remus suggests washing all the dirt and the soap away with a shower. They do that. But as they're pulling on the soft terry bathrobes, Sirius holds Remus back before he can open the door.

"Remus - there's something I need to tell you... can we sit on the benches over there for a moment?"

"Sure..."

They sit down and then Sirius looks down on his fiddling hands and says:

"I know that this will sound weird, but please give it some consideration... maybe you've noticed that I've not given any attention to all those girls who are interested in me."

Remus nods.

"It's... I... well, it's that I... don't fancy them. Girls, I mean."

"So you're gay? Prefer boys?"

"Not even that. Just one boy... you, Remus."

Remus looks up immediately. The smile in his face widens and he tilts his head just a little. Then he admits:

"Well, that is good, because... well, I thought you did, but I wasn't sure. I - Moony has known for a while longer, but I have known for a year that I love you. That's why it hurt so much when you told Snape... it hurt twice, because I had to live with Moony raging inside that the mate he chose didn't want to become our mate."

"I loved you then already... I thought I'd never even be your friend again, Remus, I thought I'd break apart after that. But I couldn't stop thinking of you, and I know very little as much as I know now that I'll always love you."

"Oh, Sirius! I love you, too! I've hoped that you would come out, but I've always thought you never would..."

He can't say anything else, because Sirius has turned fully to him, pulls him into his arms and kisses him. Just a chaste kiss, but as soon as they feel their lips they deepen the kiss. Five minutes later Remus straddles Sirius' lap and they're in a nice and hot snogging session. They do have to come up for air at some points and during one of those mini breaks Remus pants:

"Up to the dorm?"

"Yes, please!"

With a bit of trouble they both get up and gather their things, then they run up the stairs through the common room and up to our dorm. Wormtail is there, but when he sees them coming in hand in hand he takes flight.

"I'd better leave you alone, eh? Do you know where James is?"

"Quidditch pitch! It's training time!" Sirius calls and just waits until Peter has closed the door behind them. It takes a while until they've both calmed a bit down from their run up the stairs. 

"Your bed or mine?" Sirius asks.

"Mine. That's farthest away from James and Peter," Remus suggests.

"Okay."

They drop their dirty clothes into the hamper and slowly go back to Remus' bed, where they open the sashes of their bathrobes and let them fall off their shoulders. There are smiles plastered firmly on both their faces and I think they are making for a nice couple. Sirius pulls Remus closer and holds him, then he plants a tender kiss on his forehead. 

"I love you, Remus."

"I love you, too, Sirius."

They climb on the bed and are soon immersed in another snogging session, but this time they send their hands wandering over the other's body. Remus still thinks of closing the curtains, then they lie together in a reddish half-darkness and keep snogging and caressing. Sirius rolls himself on top of Remus and starts rocking his hip, rubbing his own against Remus' erection. Being young boys it doesn't take them long to come and then Sirius drops his head down on the pillow next to Remus' and both fall asleep. 

The next memory shows them in the evening, just before going to bed. Sirius puts on a pair of pyjama bottoms, Remus does the same, but Sirius tells Peter and James:

"My bed can be used as storage room from now on..."

Then he climbs into Remus' bed and pulls his new boyfriend close. Remus looks up once more, wishes everyone a good night and pulls the curtains.

"Hey, use a fucking silencing charm in there, do you hear me?" Peter calls.

"We will - when we need to!" Remus assures him. 

Shortly after that the light is out and they go to sleep. 


	20. Another bunch of animals and two portraits

**Tuesday, 1.2.2000 / Sirius**

Wow! They've really worked great, all of them. For a week we've been working on the Animagus potions and it looks like all three batches are useable. I collect them in large jugs with lids and I have everything ready. One more time the seventh years come together with the sixth years and the classroom fills with them, myself, Minerva, Annis, Remus and a very curious Amos Diggory from the Ministry. I'm calmly pushing tables and chairs out of the way, place a large mirror in the front of the room and a couple of comfortable armchairs in the back for the visitors. For all of the students and myself I have set up our cushions on the carpet.

"Well, people this is it. Let's welcome Mr. Diggory, he's the head of the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures as you might know and he's here on behalf of the Animagus Registry. I suppose there's a bit of curiosity in there, too! Perfectly alright, isn't it?"

Everyone grins at that and Amos winks. 

"Shall we start then?" I ask in his direction.

"Please proceed. I'm very excited to be allowed to follow the procedures," he admits.

"If it's anything like my first group you'll be in for a treat. We've had a lot of fun that day, didn't we, Remus?"

"Absolutely," Remus confirms.

He has let his other seventh year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws off the hook this afternoon, because he really doesn't want to miss this. 

"Okay. Let's get real here. I'm handing you each your potion, you take it, then you can mentally prepare on reciting your incantations, which have to be absolutely right in pronunciation and accurately spoken. In the other group people started to help each other by speaking them along to help remember everything, that worked quite well. Not all of them had the confidence to really do it, but all of them managed with this bit of help. Don't panic if anything unplanned or nothing at all happens. Professor McGonagall and myself know the necessary help and you can have as many chances to try as you need. The potion takes a while to take effect, therefore I'll time you before I will give you the go ahead. Because we want to make this as secure as possible I will have to let you have a go one by one. I think, that about covers the necessary information. Let's start. Who wants to be the first?"

The Gryffindors all call out immediately, with Victoria a close second. I grin and ask:

"Ladies first, okay? Geraldine, why don't you step up first?"

The other students seem to be okay with it, so she comes to me. I hand her a small goblet with the necessary amount of potion. 

"Here, drink it, please."

Her hand shakes just a tiny bit while she lifts it to her lips and swallows it. She looks surprised at the taste. 

"Wow, that's very nice... for a potion," she remarks.

"I know. I was just as surprised as you are. Now this will take about five minutes, before it takes effect. The potion is the chemical basis your body needs to prepare for your other form. Let me warn you that it will hurt quite a bit. Not from the potion, but the first few transformations, because you will be pressed together a lot to become a cat. It's a very small animal after all."

"That makes sense."

"But don't be afraid, that's a pain that gets lost very fast, the more you transform, the quicker it vanishes."

Once the five minutes are through I ask her:

"Ready?"

Geraldine swallows for a bit and then replies: "Yes, I'm ready."

She points her wand at herself and starts to recite the spells with a little help from the people in her surrounding who use this as their last opportunities to practice the incantations. I watch her closely and as soon as she's finished she seems to feel it. She looks at me in shock, because it must be more painful than she expected, but she doesn't have much time to regret her actions as she's pulled and shoved around and shrinks to her new form. Within seconds there's a lovely grey tabby cat lying in front of me, panting hard.

Everyone in the room claps and the students yell their congratulations. I hold up my hand and say:

"Wait! That's not finished yet. Geraldine, can you hear and understand me? Just nod, please!"

It takes a moment, but then she nods. Good. I'm relieved.

"Very good, please try to get up on your paws."

She's working a bit on that, but manages. Minerva follows her every move and I can see her lips twitch. I then ask the cat:

"Please walk over to the mirror and look at your image until you know yourself in your animal form very well, Geraldine."

She tries to follow that order, but gets into a tangle with her four paws. There's a bit of laughter and I bend down to help her up on her paws again. She trembles a bit and tries again. It takes her a while to sort out four legs instead of two, but then she finds herself in front of the mirror. I can see her eyes open in amazement and she twists and turns in front of the mirror.

"Okay. Do you have a clear image of yourself in your mind? And of your cat form?" I ask.

It seems strange that the little grey tabby nods and confirms that.

"Then come back to your human form now, please. Use the mental spell."

A few seconds and a small pop later Geraldine stands next to me again. She's grinning all over her face and says:

"Wow! This hurt, but it was great! Only having four legs seems to make things a bit complicated..."

"At the beginning most of us have a little problem with that, but the more experienced you get the easier it will be. Now this isn't over yet. The next step is that you will have to transform using your mental spell. That's why I wanted you to memorise your cat form. Think the spell and transform now."

She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and for a minute nothing happens. Then she slowly shrinks and finds her cat form again. Bravo, girl! That's it, you have done it!

I let her walk around for a bit, then I call her back.

"Congratulations, Geraldine, you have mastered the initial transformation. That's an amazing bit, you know."

She beams of course and steps back into the circle, where she sits down next to Irene, who's just as excited as Geraldine.

"Okay, the next who offered were Margaret and Victoria. Which of you will it be?"

Margaret and Victoria exchange a glance, then Margaret gives Victoria the go ahead.

"Thanks, Margaret. I will, Professor."

"Very good."

We proceed exactly the same way and when I tell the class that the potion should be working all chatting stops. Everyone turns their attention to Victoria who goes through the incantation, but makes a mistake on one of the longer ones. She looks at me in distraught, but as nothing happens at all I tell her to catch her breath and start again.

She tries hard, but struggles again and has to start for a third time. She shakes her head and concentrates harder. The others help by saying the incantations along with her, while she does the respective wand movements. It's looking a lot better and when she gets through the last incantation correctly her body starts to convulse and shrink and there's the owl sitting on the ground, looking rather ruffled, but okay. Everyone applauds her and I ask her to go over to the mirror. She hops and struggles a bit, but manages. Just like Parvati and Padma she has kept the golden eyes of an owl while we've seen that Geraldine had her own grey eyes in her cat form.

"You're doing very well, Victoria, now please come back just like Geraldine did before."

I can see her closing her huge eyes and then she comes back. 

"Well done!" I commend her.

One by one the students step up and go through their initial transformation. I'm very proud of them as they all manage. Some have to try a couple of times, one, Phyllis Night gets so excited, that I have to send her back to her place to go over it again after someone else is done. But even she gets her first transformation. The other two cats, Horace and Tania are a red and white tabby and a light beige one with brown eyes. The dogs are fun, Gregory looks something like a beige coloured Labrador; Irene is almost as big as my own dog, but she looks more like a Newfoundland than I do; then there's Jon who turns out like a grey Pointer. And finally there's Martin, who transforms into a perfect little brown Spaniel with huge blue eyes. 

Steven is a black horse. He looks quite impressive in this big form. Reminds me a lot of James. Felix looks almost the same as Ginny, he's just a bit smaller, but that would be because the male golden eagles are always a bit smaller than the females. 

The most magnificent is certainly Margaret. When she's through her incantation she starts to merge into a beautiful red and gold creature, but her wings are of a wonderfully deep blue like lapis lazuli. The colour combination leaves all of us in the room speechless. For Diggory her form is a complete surprise as we haven't even given him a hint about what they would become. Now she sits there, transformed again by her own will and I pick her up and let her perch on my outstretched arm. 

"I'd say there's a WOW-effect here," I gasp.

I think, everyone in the room agrees with me. I look at Margaret.

"I think, we'll need Albus Dumbledore's help in training you. Albus' and of course Fawkes'. I'm sure they will be delighted to do this," I suggest.

Once everyone is through with the initial transformation and I'm not too astonished that they all did it, I'm telling them:

"Well, that was only step number one. You now know your forms, you have transformed for the first time, you know how to do it, but the real training only starts now. You will have to become the animal you have inside of you. You will have to work through your transformations daily, for a number of times. Best do it for a short moment right after getting up or before going to bed. Do it anytime you are in the mood to do it, just as long as it's outside of class and during meals. Your first job is to get used to your form and transform easily. During the lessons we'll talk about and practice the finer details of the behaviour of your animal. You will study that more intensively of course. And you will learn to live more by instinct than conscious thinking."

Minerva stands up when I have finished and says:

"Well, I do think that a reward is called for. Your achievement will be rewarded with fifty house-points for each of you, which means two hundred points for Gryffindor, two hundred for Hufflepuff, two hundred and fifty for Ravenclaw and fifty for Slytherin. And each of you will have two Os more in Transfigurations counting to your over all marks. I'm very proud of all of you and I really hope you will enjoy your new ability as I have for the many years I've been an Animagus."

The last who has something to say is Diggory who gets up and produces a stack of parchments.

"On behalf of the Ministry I'm happy to be the first one to congratulate you to your achievement. Well done, all of you! And well done, Professor Black! This is the second group of fourteen people under your supervision to pass their initial transformations flawlessly. Congratulations, Professor! I do hope you continue to teach students in this art, which has been almost disregarded for a long time. - Now. These here are your Registrations. All we have to do now is to fill in the animal you've become and a short description of your features. I suggest that you take the same kind of photos you did the last time, Professor. How did you manage to have them still?"

Remus and I laugh straight out. Oh, these pure-blooded witches and wizards with not the slightest idea about the Muggle world. 

"They're simple Muggle photos, Mr. Diggory. Those can't move. We'll supply you with one for each of them. It worked with the other ones, didn't it?"

"Perfectly. Much better than drawings. Especially since you did them from all four sides."

"Then we'll repeat that procedure in one of the next lessons."

Once the students have returned their parchments to Diggory the afternoon is over and we all go over to the Great Hall for the dinner. Passing through the Entrance Hall we can hear many students whisper excitedly about the point gains in their respective houses, only the Slytherins grumble. They keep asking why their level has only risen a small bit, compared to the other houses. Once we have taken our seats I can hear Victoria tell her classmates that she's the one who got the points for Slytherin.

"I'm the only one who has joined the Animagus course. Professor McGonagall has given fifty points to all of us who managed the transformation. Since I am the only Slytherin in the group we didn't get as much."

"FIFTY points? Wow. I don't think I've ever seen her hand out that many at once. I've only seen her dock that many!" a boy in her year sighs. 

I turn to Remus and we both grin. Don't we know that! He turns back to Minerva and remarks:

"Must have been a first for you to hand out that many points in one go, Minerva. They're all still speechless."

She smirks. She actually SMIRKS! 

"Becoming Headmistress has softened you down, Minerva!" I chide with a laugh.

"Yes, maybe. It gives me more distance and I can now understand Albus a good deal better. I can let go much more easily now. I don't think, I'm really softening down, but I am a bit milder these days. Gives me a good feeling, too."

**Minerva**

What an extraordinary afternoon that was. I'm so proud of Sirius, but after all he was my student and always one of the best in Transfigurations, as aggravating as he was otherwise. He's a natural at anything magical. He's different from other brilliant students mainly in the fact that he is intuitive more than anything else. Of course that means he's immensely powerful. He thinks something and then does it. I know that many of his year-mates have looked at him go in awe, because they were struggling with getting all of their theory right while Sirius had an innate ability to just do it. I know I'm the same and Albus was the same. I suppose Transfigurations demands a good deal of that. But watching Sirius teach Transfigurations humbles me, because he can do what I could not. He can really bring the subject closer to the students. I've really seen the fun loving, mischievous, clever Sirius from his Hogwarts days return in the past eighteen months. 

If anyone would have told me that one day I would have a Sirius Black in my staff AND entrust him with the position of the Transfigurations teacher AND head of Gryffindor house when he himself was a student, I'm sure I would have hexed that person into the next century. This young man irked me to no end, at the same time it was very hard to resist that undeniable sincerity, loyalty and charm he had. While I'm returning from dinner to my office and my quarters beneath it I'm trying to remember the seven years Sirius was at Hogwarts as a student. I had only just started a few months before he came to school. He surprised us the very first time he set his feet into the Entrance Hall. He firmly stood far away from his kin and the people his family surrounded him with. He seemed quite in fear of what would happen to him now when I called him to the Sorting Hat. He looked back to James who had stood next to him and vanished under the hat, a lanky eleven years old with arms and legs too long and hands too large to be of much use. I looked at Albus while he was under the hat. His cousin Bellatrix had just been sorted into the traditional Black-house, Slytherin, the moment she had the hat on her head, but with Sirius the hat took longer. It seemed to me that it pronounced Gryffindor with more vigour than for other children. Maybe to assure us it really was sincere with its decision. It was the right one of course. 

That particular Sorting was a very special one and once it got to Remus I had just wondered what surprise we might get with him. Albus had told me about the child and while I was, at first, a bit distressed about the responsibility we would be taking by accepting him to the school I immediately knew he belonged to us the moment the hat shouted Gryffindor. I quickly threw another glance to Albus, and noticed that his glances followed Remus' way to the Gryffindor table with a knowing and a proud smile.

As would become our habit in the many years I served as Deputy Headmistress under Albus we discussed the Sorting quietly after the feast in his office. He invited me for a casual game of chess to talk about what I felt during the first time I had officiated in my new function and to reassure me that I had done everything well. I remember him saying that it was an interesting group of first years that had arrived at Hogwarts in this year. I asked him why and he said that an extraordinary amount of children from known practitioners of Old Magic had come to school. 

"...and all but two of them are now down in the Slytherin dungeons."

"One is obviously Sirius Black, who's the other?" I asked.

"Myrah King. As you know she went to Ravenclaw."

"What can we do for these children?"

"Nothing in particular. I am very interested to follow the path Sirius Black will take. I can tell you that apart from the odd one going to Ravenclaw not one Black was ever sorted into Gryffindor. I have been contacted by Alphard Black, though, and he asked me to have an eye out for Sirius. He hoped the boy would be spared to grow up in these dark dungeons. He will be most pleased about the outcome."

We watched Sirius' progress closely in the first few weeks. He integrated himself well into his house, in spite of the evil Howlers his mother sent about his sorting. After some of them had actually got through Albus destroyed the rest before they could explode and strongly discouraged the Black woman to send more as he would not let them pass. All mail to Sirius would be monitored. Then the Howlers did cease but if it weren't for James Potter I doubt Sirius Black would have had a good start at Hogwarts. Watching them from the head table I was able to notice, to my astonishment, that it was Remus Lupin who supported Sirius most actively. 

I always found it interesting to see the difference between the two Black brothers as soon as Regulus came to Hogwarts. Not only did they look completely different, there was nothing that would have given them away as brothers. Where Sirius had spunk, was a sparkling character, always full of life, with laughing eyes and an ever laughing mouth, quick witted and spontaneous, a happy child who grew into a very lovely young man, Regulus looked plain, dejected, lacked talent and ideas, struggled in class and generally displayed a very spiteful, haughty attitude. While Sirius' talents spread over almost all core subjects and a few of his electives Regulus had great problems in all of his core subjects and later on in his electives. It was especially interesting to watch them during their exams. They were in the same room when Sirius sat NEWTS and Regulus his OWLS. Sirius was self assured, went behind his tests with ease and confidence, Regulus mostly stared at his parchments and cautiously filled in his answers. Even with his NEWTS Sirius looked up from his parchments at least fifteen minutes before the end of his allocated time and never touched them again. Regulus still struggled when the time was up. 

I don't think I have ever seen siblings being opposites like those two. Their looks of course was another thing that differed them. I knew that Sirius came after his father and Regulus after his mother. And since Leda Black was nothing short of an ugly old hag I often wondered how Sirius could have become the handsome man he was. He was the most sought after boy in the whole school. Even some of the Slytherin girls were mooning over him and almost swooned when he passed them. I wasn't surprised at all that the lovely boy turned out to be as gay as the month of June. What really surprised me was that his eyes fell on Remus Lupin and firmly stayed there for the rest of his time at Hogwarts. And, as I know now, will do so for the rest of his life. 

The blow that Sirius' 'prank' stroke on the four friends early in their fifth year seemed to have destroyed everything they had built up. For weeks Sirius walked completely alone before they seemed to be able to mend things. Neither Albus nor I interfered, but we watched them quite closely. While some people might have thought we were paying that group of four boys an awful lot of attention we knew that we had to. They were constantly up to mischief and consciously so. Black and Potter never had any scruples in seeking trouble, trying to find out just how far they could go. Lupin was less of a plague, but I definitely suspected him to be the mastermind behind many of their schemes and pranks, mainly the ones we could never really trace back to the Marauders. Pettigrew was the tag-along. He worshipped Potter and would have done anything James told him to do. I suppose that was one of the many reasons why we always thought it impossible that he might be the traitor. We all saw him as the boy who had followed James Potter in anything and seemed to worship the ground on which he was walking. How could such an admirer turn to become the murderer of his hero? These days I suppose he must have been very jealous of the success his three friends, even the werewolf had in everything they did. And one day that jealousy must have turned into hatred. Voldemort must have had an easy time convincing this young man to become his spy.

Turning back to my daily work, I'm going through some papers that I have been working on this morning. They're a list of vaults Hogwarts has at Gringotts. We own at least several dozen vaults where we store artefacts of some sorts that have no space here or that have been left to us from former students through their wills. The goblins have sent me this list to approve and to go through the contents in order to find out if they were still in order. Reading over the list I know one thing. I can't go through them, for one I don't have the experience and of course I don't have the time needed to do that. So I pick up my Commumirror to call Albus Dumbledore at his house in Cornwall.

"Hello, Minerva! Is there anything I can help you with or is this just a social call?"

"Hello, Albus! Both! I've had the privilege to watch Sirius' newest batch of students who passed their initial Animagus transformation today. You should have been here, it was wonderful to watch. One of them, Margaret Limbury, transforms into a phoenix, Albus! She's simply magnificent. I think, Sirius will approach you on her behalf to help with her training. He hopes you will have Fawkes come and help her."

"That sounds delightful! A phoenix! I don't think I can remember any other Animagus becoming a phoenix ever before, can you?"

"I don't think so, but I don't remember the registry for the last one thousand years like you probably do," I reply with a grin.

He returns the grin with one of his infuriatingly mild smiles. 

"I will certainly be there to help. Limbury... is she related with the new Potions teacher, Annis Limbury?"

"Yes, she is. She's Annis' oldest daughter. Annis was quite proud, she was present as well."

"Ah, I think, that I remember Miss Limbury now. How did she take it?"

"Oh, I do think she's very pleased. She's all red and gold and her wings are a wonderful dark blue, almost like lapis lazuli," I describe her.

"Excellent."

"The other matter concerns something I've got from the Gringotts goblins today, Albus. They sent me a list with the depository vaults Hogwarts keeps and want us to go through them in detail and find out if everything was still in order with them. Do you think, you could do that for me?"

In the mirror he looks delighted. I suspect he does find retirement a bit more boring than anticipated and that should give him a little something to do. 

"Yes, that sounds like a delightful job, which I'd gladly do for you. It isn't something I have to go through the school governors, do I?"

"You would know, I think. I don't think the goblins would contact me directly if it weren't in my competence though. It's not like they talk about the actual money vaults. These are all storage vaults. There must be about sixty all in all."

"That should be fine, Minerva, would you send me a copy of the list and present me at Gringotts as your representative?"

"Yes. First thing tomorrow. I'm off to bed now, that was quite an exhausting day. I'm so proud of Sirius, Albus!"

"How are they doing?"

"Oh, they look perfectly happy. The children are well, too."

We chat for a while before I put the mirror away and retire to my chambers.

**Thursday, 17.2.2000 / Albus**

For the past few days I have gone through so many Hogwarts memories it almost made me cry. The vaults I'm to look through contain mainly personal goods from people who have left them to Hogwarts through their wills. Or they have come to us and we have stored them here through troubled times. Some of the vaults I recognise, because I have personally deposited things there during the years of Grindelwald's terror, then the ones of Tom Riddle's first rise. Today I shall look through one of those vaults.

There are only portraits deposited here. When I step into the vault with the goblin waiting patiently outside I notice that it seems like a rush is going through the vault, waking the inhabitants of the portraits of a decades long sleep. I can see some of the ones in front rubbing their eyes even. All of a sudden I think it very cruel to just bury these people here. We could still learn so much from them. I know that available wall space does get tighter at Hogwarts, but still... there's still a lot of it there. 

"Albus Dumbledore! Is that really you?" a very old gentleman calls from one of the portraits. 

I look around, but don't quite recognise him.

"Yes, that would be me. With whom do I have the pleasure to speak?"

"Algernon Blake! I used to supervise your first steps as a teacher. I was a member of the Hogwarts board of governors back in 1911."

"Oh! Now I remember you. It's nice to meet again, Algernon."

"Why do you wake us all? It's been ages since someone stepped in here the last time. It feels like a bloody tomb in here!"

"I'm afraid this has been used as a storage vault, Algernon. Your portrait along with many others have been put in here because they weren't supposed to be destroyed, but there was no actual interest or space or other reason to hang the paintings on a wall. I'm to look through the vault."

"Are you still at Hogwarts then?"

"I have retired as Headmaster last year. My successor, Minerva McGonagall, whom you probably don't remember, has asked me to come down here and go through those depository vaults."

"Ah. Well, have a good look around. The light must have woken us all by now."

Indeed I can hear my name being called from many a painting. Are these all portraits? I look at how they have been stacked against the walls one in front of the next on several levels. I look through them one after the other. On the third stack I meet two portraits of the Lupin family! I suppose Remus is not aware that there are wizarding portraits of his parents around. I really wonder how they came into Hogwarts possession. One painting is just Quintus and Fanny, obviously right after or shortly before they got married, the other shows them with Remus. I suppose the little boy on the portrait is about three to four years old.

"Hello Quintus, Fanny!" I say softly. 

Quintus looks up and smiles.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore! How wonderful to see you. You look swell!"

"Thank you, Quintus, I do look my age though. A lot of time must have passed since your portraits have come down here..."

"We don't know, but we suspect it's several decades. Do you know if our Remus is still well?"

"Yes, he is. How old is he on this portrait?"

"Almost five. We did want a painting of him because we didn't know what he could expect in life, so we had another family painting commissioned. So he has managed to survive in spite of his condition?"

"Yes, Quintus, he has. I am proud to tell you that at this time he is a teacher at Hogwarts, teaching Defence against the Dark Arts and since Minerva has replaced me as Headmistress last September he has also become Deputy Headmaster."

Quintus and Fanny gape at me in wonderment and then Quintus hoots. Little Remus is quite shaken in his seat and Fanny beams.

"Oh, this is wonderful! Do you think you could get these portraits to him? I have no idea how we landed in this dark tomb here."

"I'm sure I will be able to do that. I will certainly place them next to the entrance, so I don't have to look for you anymore. Remus will be so pleased to catch up with you two. Which is why I won't tell you anything more at this moment."

"Albus, we remember, that he's been at school and that he's left Hogwarts. He was together with that very nice boy, Sirius Black. We hoped they would stay together, did they? Our portraits must have vanished at some point between his leaving Hogwarts and a year or two afterwards. Do you know what happened to us?" Fanny asks.

"Yes, I do. I'm afraid both of you were murdered at the end of the year 1980."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, I have to tell you that."

"It's not like that changes anything for us portraits, Albus. We will just have to get used to the idea," Quintus says quietly.

"Let me call Minerva and tell her about my find!" I tell them and they look very curious when I pull out my Commumirror.

Minerva replies almost immediately.

"Hello, Albus!"

"Hello, Minerva. I'm in one of the vaults containing portraits and I have just stumbled over two portraits of Quintus and Fanny Lupin. Do you give me permission to remove them from the vault and return them to Remus?"

"Oh, what a lovely surprise. Absolutely, Albus, he'll be so pleased to find them!"

"Good. I shall see you soon then, Minerva!"

I close the mirror. Quintus and Fanny still look very curious. That gives me the opportunity to smile and tell them that this is an invention of one of their son's students.

"She is probably one of the most gifted young witches these days. Muggle-born. He has taught her in Defence, Charms, History and Ancient Runes for three years, when we had to hide her and a couple of other students in a safe-house. He'll certainly tell you about it. It's something he's very proud of, because Hermione actually invented this device in her sixth year on a challenge of his. That was four years ago and these days no one seems to be without one of those Commumirrors anymore."

"Sounds great."

"Anyway, I take you out and let you wait for a while until I've gone through the rest of this place."

After I have done that I find other portraits of people I know the relatives would like to have them returned. I collect about thirty of those portraits and take a list of the others to inquire later for relatives or friends who would like to have them. Many must have been hastily deposited in here to just have them safe, but then forgotten. The list contains more than five hundred names. 

That concludes my work in the vaults for today. I pack up the portraits and cover them well, then spell them weightless and pick the package up. The list goes into my pocket and then I leave Gringotts, apparating to the Leaky Cauldron to use the public fireplace to Minerva's office. I call her and she opens the Floo communication for me. I floo over and greet her.

"I've brought a couple of those portraits, Minerva. I know that there are a couple of relatives of the people on them around and I'll look them up and return those paintings to their rightful owners."

"That's a nice find, Albus. Did you forget about these things?"

"Well, I didn't really forget, it more like slipped out of my mind, because it was secure to place them there and then I was distracted enough that I left them there. Let me just take out the two for Remus."

We pick out the two paintings. Minerva smiles and asks:

"Do you want to take them down to Remus? He should be down at their flat."

"Oh, I'd love to. It should be such a surprise for him. I'm sure you didn't tell him?"

"Do you take me for a spoilsport, Albus? Of course not!"

I have the portraits out and Minerva greets the Lupins.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall. We're very pleased to return to our son!" Fanny says.

"He'll be out of his mind of happiness about getting you, believe me, Mrs Lupin. He'll love to catch up with you. And I'm sure you'll love what you will hear."

I levitate the two paintings and Minerva accompanies me down the stairs and through the castle to the teachers' quarters where she gives the password to the wall. We go through and knock on the door to Remus' and Sirius' flat. Little Adara Black opens the door.

"Hello, Addie, may we come in? We have something of a surprise for Remus..." Minerva announces.

"Of course. Hello, auntie Minnie, hello, Professor Dumbledore."

She steps back, we enter and look around. I haven't seen the enlarged flat, but it looks very nice indeed. Remus and Sirius are on their feet the moment we enter.

**Sirius**

We get a surprise visit from Albus and Minerva. I guide them to the sitting area right by the window and sit down, while Winky comes and brings tea for all. Albus has two paintings under his arm and his twinkling eyes tell me that there's a surprise for one of us.

"Remus, Minerva has asked me to take over a task for her at Gringotts and when I was going about my business checking through storage vaults owned by Hogwarts I found these two portraits. Do you remember them?"

He turns them around and I gasp. Remus gasps even louder and puts his hands over his mouth. He stares at the paintings, then at Albus and whispers:

"Yes, I do. How did they end up in that vault? I always wondered what happened to them... I do remember that they vanished, but I never thought to ask you."

"I honestly can't tell you, Remus. All I know is that in the confusion of those days I put everything aside that I came across or that was left to me to care for. But they are clearly yours and I'd like to return them to you today."

"Thank you so much, Albus! Hello mum, dad!"

"Hello Remus! You look great," Fanny remarks.

"Thanks, mum. I am feeling great, so I suppose I look it, too... I'll have so much to tell you two."

"I see Sirius is still with you! Hello, Sirius. And how are you?"

"Just grand, mum. I've missed you guys so much. It was the worst blow ever when Death Eaters killed you..."

Remus gives me a glare. Oh darn it, they probably don't know! But Quintus quietly greets us and tells Remus that Albus has already informed them of that fact.

"Oh, good, then that's out of the way already."

We magically hang up the portrait with little Remus next to uncle Alphard and tell the other portrait it would be taken to our Townhouse the coming weekend. It's been a quick decision. 

The nicest bit is to present our two grandchildren to my in-laws. Seraina and Denny look at them with interest, but they have yet to understand the meaning. They've grown up so far without any grandparents at all and have no concept of such a thing. But they're already familiar with uncle Alphard and they know that he cannot join us as a living person, so they'll certainly adjust to their grandparents soon.

"How delightful! I would never have thought you'd have children one day, this is just the nicest surprise you could present us with, dears! They look both really lovely. And who is the young lady? She looks very much like you, Sirius, is she a daughter of yours?" Fanny exclaims.

"Feels like. But she's my little sister, mum," I tell her. 

Addie comes closer to me and looks at the portrait curiously, then she asks me:

"Why do you call her mum, Sirius?"

"Well, because this, Addie, is Remus' mum! She has become mine when I got together with Remus, you know. And I have to say that I gladly dropped ours for her, because she's just been the best! And the gentleman with her is Remus' dad. I'm sure they won't mind you calling them grand-mum and grand-dad. Mum, dad, please meet Adara Black, my little sister. There's a long story behind her, we'll tell it to you, but we'll bring you up to speed with lots else first."

Out of the corner of my eyes I notice Albus and Minerva leaving us alone, so we can start to tell the story of our lives to Remus' parents. Quintus asks:

"Well, we know that some Death Eaters killed us, but what happened? And when did it happen?"

"At the end of the year 1980. Do you remember that year?"

"I think, your friends had a baby in summer, didn't they? James and Lily Potter..." Fanny remarks.

"Exactly. I was made little Harry's godfather."

"How are they?"

"They were targeted by the Death Eaters and in November 1981 they were killed. Mum, dad, this is going to be a very difficult story to tell you, but remember, it does have a happy ending!" Remus explains.

"Okay, start right after our death then..." Quintus suggests.

"In February my brother noticed he didn't want to be a Death Eater after all. When he tried to get out of the fold they killed him," I start.

"Oh dear."

"Then we went through half a year with James and Lily moving about three times until they finally landed in a cottage in Godric's Hollow. Sirius and I went through difficult times in our relationship, the war was getting ever nastier and we started to distrust each other. Then someone tipped Albus off that someone right in our midst had been giving information to Voldemort for almost a year. I knew it wasn't me, I thought Peter would be incapable to do such a thing, so I started to suspect Sirius. To say that our relationship was strained would be an understatement," Remus continues.

"I came to just about the same conclusion as Remus, I knew it wasn't me, it couldn't possibly be Peter, he was too weak, but Remus was a powerful wizard, he might willingly or unwillingly be the spy. So when it came down that James and Lily were supposed to be covered with a Fidelius charm they chose me to be their Secret Keeper. I accepted at first, but then I had second thoughts. A couple of them actually. The very first was that I was a much too obvious choice. Everyone knew we were as close as brothers. I expected the Death Eaters to come running to me as soon as it would be known that the Potters were under the charm. And then I thought that if Remus was the spy and tried to pry the secret from me, I couldn't withstand. I would have been incapable of keeping it. I loved him too much."

"So who was it then?" Quintus asks.

"I told the Potters to choose Peter. No one would think he would do something like that. Peter was the perfect inconspicuous choice. I would be the decoy. If the Death Eaters would be after me they could have tortured me to death, but I wouldn't have been able to tell them anything. And we decided not to tell anyone about the switch so I would have taken the knowledge of who the real Secret Keeper was to my death. I went to check on Peter every day. Only a week after the charm had been cast, the Potters were betrayed and Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow, where he successfully killed James. Then he rounded on Lily ordering her to move aside, so he could kill Harry, who was the main target, because he was one of two possible children who were prophesised to be Voldemort's destroyer. She of course refused and finally told Voldemort to kill her instead of her son. She knew that Voldemort would still go after Harry after that, but we now know that she had cast a spell over her son that would protect him because she sacrificed herself. When Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra on Harry, the baby survived with nothing more than a cut on his forehead. The spell bounded right back to Voldemort. Now we don't know if he was too far on his way to immortality or the spell had been weakened because it rebounded, but it managed to outright kill the body and left Voldemort a helpless, weak kind of a spirit. He fled. That same night I went to check on Peter, but didn't find him. Now he hadn't told me that he planned to go out, in fact the plan was that he would go into hiding, too, as would Remus and I. But he wasn't in his flat, there was no sign of any struggle or even argument, he was gone. That seemed strange and I began to worry about his safety, until I saw what had happened at Godric's Hollow. The cottage was almost a smouldering ruin. The upper floors had caved in, but I could get inside and found the bodies of James and then Lily who lay right beside Harry. The baby was screaming and only when I picked him up he quieted down a bit. It was the moment I realised that Peter must have betrayed them. He must have been with Voldemort, too, but vanished when his master had fled. I saw Voldemort's robes, but his wand had gone. Then Hagrid turned up. You remember him, don't you?"

"Groundskeeper at Hogwarts, isn't it?" Fanny asks.

"That's the one. He told me, that Dumbledore had ordered him to take Harry somewhere safe. I argued with him, because I knew that James and Lily had wanted me to take Harry, should he survive them as a minor. But Hagrid refused, so I let him take Harry and gave him my bike to get there faster. I was devastated. James had meant more to me than anyone in my family, almost as much as Remus, to lose him was just about the worst thing that could have happened to us. I was out of my mind then and knew only one thing. I had to find Peter. You remember our Animagus forms, don't you?"

"Yes, I do, what about it?" Quintus wants to know. 

Both of Remus' parents seem to hold their breaths waiting for the rest of the tale.

I continue: "Well, I tracked Peter down by the next day on a not overly busy London street, called out to him, but he was prepared. Cried out for everyone to hear that I'd betrayed James and Lily, then cut off a finger and blew up the street behind him with the wand in his back, then he transformed and was gone. As a rat it was easy for him to vanish. I was left behind and realised he'd just had one up on me... he'd killed a good dozen people with that explosion."

"Sirius was captured on the spot, found laughing hysterically. They questioned him half-heartedly, then cast him right off to Azkaban. I only learned about it all three days later when I came back from a short trip abroad. Dumbledore told me what happened and that Crouch and Fudge had decided that the case was clear and Sirius was guilty. All I had known was that he was the Potters' Secret Keeper and on that basis I must have expected him to actually have killed Peter and the Muggles."

"Merlin, I don't want to know how you felt, love," says Fanny and I'm not sure whether she only means Remus by that.

"I was down on the ground. I think, I was out of it for at least a year, scraping just about by. You know how hard it was to get jobs with my condition. I managed with odd jobs later on, travelled a lot and did some creature extermination until I got a chance to go to Romania and spend time with a specialist on vampires. He took me in and I spent a few years with him. I learned everything about catching and killing vampires from him. Nothing helped me get over Sirius though. I was not only mad at him, I was furious. I kept trying to cast his memory out of my mind, but I never succeeded. So I ran around half the world for several years until one day an owl caught up with me. It was the early summer of 1993. Albus had written and offered me a job at Hogwarts. I was to teach Defence against the Dark Arts. I didn't want to. Didn't want to go back where the memories of our years together would haunt me every moment of the day, but he talked me into it. When he came to talk to me he dropped the information that Sirius had been able to escape from Azkaban."

"Escape from Azkaban? How on earth did you manage to do that, Sirius?" Quintus asks, flabbergasted.

"Later, Quintus, let Remus continue."

Remus tells him the whole bit of Harry's third year in a few words, my attempts to get into the Gryffindor tower. Harry's escapades and then the moment we met again in the Shrieking Shack and how he transformed in the worst of moments. Again I can almost feel the Lupins' baited breaths, even though they of course don't breathe. 

"Sirius is better to tell you how it went on after that..."

"I kept Remus away from the students. He had only missed one dose of the Wolfsbane, so he was probably coherent enough not to put up too much of a fight and ran into the forest. But in the meantime Pettigrew had taken his chances and picked up Remus' dropped wand, freed himself, froze Hermione's cat and Ron, then he transformed and was off once again. I was later captured, but not before the Dementors got to Harry, Hermione and myself. Harry had managed to chase them out of the way with a very impressive Patronus."

"That's amazing. A third year casting a full corporeal Patronus," Fanny whispers.

"And it was Remus who taught him! He's a great teacher, mum!" I say with pride.

She smiles at that and muses:

"I always thought he would make a superb teacher. I'm very glad to hear you ended up as one, sweetheart!"

"So am I! - Anyway, they shoved me into Flitwick's office, you know that this is up on the seventh floor! I didn't have a wand, the door was very securely locked and Fudge was there because of that blasted beheading of Buckbeak. He had called for a Dementor immediately and Snape was of course delighted because he thought I would finally be Kissed. I really thought I was a goner. I sat there in that office, knew that I was innocent of those crimes and knew that my life would be over in a few minutes. But then the window was spelled open and Harry and Hermione were outside on Buckbeak's back! I was out in a moment and we flew up to the tower where Harry and Hermione got down and I was able to get away. I really owe the two of them my soul."

"But how had they managed! I thought they both landed in the hospital wing when you landed in Flitwick's office..." Fanny asks.

"Turned out that Hermione had a time-turner the whole year long. She had taken an extra couple of classes and was thus entrusted with this thing. Dumbledore had told them to go back three hours - they would be able to save two innocent lives. And they did. Buckbeak and myself. You can imagine how proud I am of those two!"

"Wow! What a story, Sirius. I don't even want to think about what you went through at that place. In the course of the time we've seen more than one werewolf ending up there and we were always afraid that one day it would be Remus. That's the main reason why we trained his self-control to such an extreme point. We wanted him to be able to keep himself out of trouble."

"He did, mum. He has never hurt anyone. Never!"

"At least never in my wolf form..." Remus mutters.

We go on to tell the Lupins how Voldemort had been given another body and how we got together again after Harry's fourth year and ended up in Switzerland. They are quite delighted about those stories. 

"Then we got more and more students and in the end there were thirteen of them from all four houses. Though six out of them were Gryffindors. I started to leave Azkaban behind me then. We've had a near perfect home with thirteen children, two house-elves and all the protection that was possible. We loved it! The kids loved the school in this form. Shortly after we started we were able to capture Pettigrew. Then I was freed just like that, they just set a trial for Pettigrew and I had to go there as a witness. Remus, Harry, Ron and Hermione had to come, too, of course. But I was free then. Didn't want to go anywhere though, all I wanted was stay with my loved ones. When the kids were in their sixth year Harry and Dumbledore were able to kill Voldemort! The idiot had turned up on our grounds with a few of his remaining Death Eaters and they weren't getting through Remus' wards. These wards were mostly set on intent. They were trimmed to recognise the Dark Mark on someone and gave alarm. And they were so exquisite, that even Voldemort couldn't just break them. So he was there with a good dozen of his Death Eaters and couldn't get past. Dumbledore allowed Harry a shot at Voldemort, under the cover of his Invisibility Cloak. Voldemort never knew what hit him. It took a while until the coast was clear of the remaining Death Eaters, of course, especially since the Ministry was pretty well equipped with them. And for that time we still had to stay at the safe-house. But Dumbledore offered the kids to return to Hogwarts for their seventh year if they wanted. Only two of the girls and one boy took him up on the offer, the rest preferred to stay at the Sunnegg. They had all paired off early on and were too comfortable to want to go back to their big separated dorms."

"Interesting. So they had their own rooms?"

"Yes, they did. We had the house renovated and the stable area was converted into bedrooms. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had their rooms on our side and the rest went to the back of the house. But the couples were pretty much together. Harry and Hermione moved up to Hermione's room under the roof, Ron moved into Justin Finch-Fletchley's room at the back and his sister Ginny bunked up with a Hufflepuff named Ernie McMillan. Justin's a Hufflepuff, too. Then there were the Patil twins. Padma and Parvati, shacked up with the two Slytherin boys in the group, one of them a Zabini, the other a Malfoy. Narcissa's son."

"Wow... I can see how they preferred to stay that way."

Remus grins.

"Albus even offered them to get a separate dorm with rooms that they could share. By that time they had become their own kind of house, you know. But they didn't only want their rooms, they also wanted our teaching. Dumbledore had left them the choice, even though he wanted Sirius and I back here at Hogwarts, but he said that we could have the jobs, whether it be a year earlier or later. So we stayed there for another year. In the summer break between the kids' sixth and seventh year Sirius and I had the idea that we wanted our own children. We found a surrogate mother who carried our twins and they were born in April almost two years ago. It was the most precious moment in my life, mum! We took them into our care right from the first moment of their lives and they're really the apples of our eyes."

"That's just wonderful, Remus. I know the feeling, believe me. I'm so happy for you two!" Quintus says.

Naturally we still have a few stories to tell. Then Quintus wants to know:

"You mentioned a potion for Remus before, what is this?"

"Oh, that's right, we didn't talk about the potion," I exclaim and grin. 

I explain it to them and they're immensely relieved to hear that there's something which helps werewolves.

"But we also didn't tell you something else. During their sixth year I taught the kids to become Animagi. And since I taught a whole class I talked Remus into trying, too. Look at the result!"

Remus sighs, but transforms and the Lupins both gasp.

"What! Does that mean, Remus is an Animagus now?"

"Yes, he is. It helps him to transform before the moon rises and he won't go through the pain of the transformation. So the potion takes care of his mind and the Animagus of the body. He's just curling up on the carpet until we go to bed and anyone can touch him, even on full moon nights," I say.

"Oh my god! That is the single most wonderful thing I can imagine for you, Remus! I'm absolutely thrilled about that. It explains your healthy look, doesn't it?"

"Yes, mum, it does. Ever since that day I haven't gone through a painful transformation anymore. And Moony is quite a friendly fellow these days."

"This is amazing, Remus. You are really an outstanding wizard, you know," says Quintus.

"Thanks, dad. Anyway, after the kids were through with their NEWTS we came back home - to Hogwarts. I went back to teaching Defence, Sirius started off teaching Potions, but last year Albus decided to retire, which meant that Minerva was made Headmistress and she wanted Sirius to take over Transfigurations. I hear that it's moved up to be one of the favourite subjects these days," Remus says and grins.

"I could imagine that you're quite a favourite teacher for those many young girls around the school," Fanny laughs.

"Well, they all know I'm with Remus, so they can have their little crushes, but they also know it won't lead anywhere..." I grin.

All that remains now is to tell them the story about Lily and James' ghosts and Addie. They are as outraged about my parents as we were of course. 

We have reached dinner time. Remus and I grab each one of the twins and take them over to the table. Winky brings the food. We finally have her so loosened up that she eats with us. She's still twitchy to be there for every possible need we might have, but it's nice to see that she really regards herself as a part of the family. A welcome one, not just a servant.


	21. Dragon's Tales Opens

**Friday, 18.2.2000 / Remus**

To be able to talk to my parents' portraits is similar to having James and Lily's ghosts around. But it rips those wounds open again that were caused by their deaths. Their murder was the moment when something started to push Sirius and me apart. It was the moment when I started to suspect my lover of being the traitor. It almost tore me apart, because I loved him so much, which was the main reason I never spoke about my suspicion. I can't say how many times I've wished that I had spoken about it since I've learned about his innocence. I've tortured myself with that thought for a year after the showdown in the Shrieking Shack.

I'm getting up this morning, looking forward to only three lessons in the morning. While Sirius eats with the children, I am going to breakfast in the Great Hall. Sitting down on my usual spot next to Minerva I wish her a good morning.

"You were rather gone all of a sudden yesterday, Minerva," I remark.

She smiles.

"You didn't need us there. Albus and I enjoyed a wonderful game of chess up in my office instead. I'm quite sure he misses our regular meetings a lot.

"I'm sure of that. He entertains quite a lot of guests as I've heard, but you are very close to him... he must miss you."

"Yes, but I can't leave here all too often. Though everything seems to be running very smoothly."

"It does. The school governors seem happy, too..."

"Yes, the board is quiet these days. We're doing well with the budget, that's their main concern. As you know we get regular donations from many areas, that and the Ministry funds keep us running very nicely. Albus' work in the Hogwarts vaults at Gringotts has brought forth a lot that we'll be able to auction off some time soon. That will be something to organise."

We discuss a few more things and take our time for the breakfast. My first lesson is starting at eight thirty, so I'm in no hurry. 

"What do you think about a ball in spring, Remus? I know that you people have given the students dance lessons, I suppose it would be nice if they could use these skills for once. So I've thought we could hold a dance again for once. We don't do that very often..."

"Yes, why not? How about the end of May some time?"

She nods. 

"That sounds fine. OWLS and NEWTS will be over by then and the other exams aren't as tough, so the students might enjoy this."

"As long as there's not one every year... but I think, it would be nice if every student gets to go to at least one or two dances during their time at Hogwarts."

"I'll run it by the school governors then. It's always a bit of an extra expense, so they've got to have the last word. I don't think of a big thing like that monstrous Yule ball we held during the Triwizard Tournament, rather something with music coming from sound systems."

"Very reasonable. They could choose their preferred music that way. That's a good idea and shouldn't ask for too much in terms of expenses. Fourth years up?"

"Yes, at the most. Maybe only even fifth, sixth and seventh years..." Minerva suggests.

I nod.

"Yes, may be better. And no fixed partners required. It's up to them to have an escort or find a partner at the ball."

"Duly noted. I agree, that this makes it easier for the shyer students."

"Fine. I'll announce it on the house notice boards then. I'll have to check the dates of the last OWLS/NEWTS exams."

"They're during the last full week of May. Which is up to the 26th."

"Ah, that's good, the full moon is on the 18th. We'll hold regular exams in the last week of May and the first week of June then."

"Fine with me."

Minerva gives me a smile and I get up, having noted the dates quickly on a slip of parchment. I'm jotting it down on the desk-planner and underline the dates. Sirius comes in and starts picking up his materials for his morning lessons. 

"What's that?" he asks and points to my notes.

I explain quickly, gathering up my own books and walking out of the office. 

"Ah! Lovely. We should get a prominent auctioneer for that event and do it on the grounds in August or so..." Sirius says.

"That's a great idea. The auction's income will be used for Hogwarts needs of course."

We reach our classrooms where some of the students are already waiting. I let mine, sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws inside and start the lecture as soon as everyone has arrived. After that period I have a double lesson with the seventh years from Slytherin and Hufflepuff. They're practicing real duels now, so all the tables vanish and they get paired up. After the two lessons they have worked out quite a bit. I watch them leave after announcing a quiz test for Tuesday morning.

"Work over chapters twenty-two to twenty-eight in your text-books. Questions will be out of them," I hint.

They groan a bit, but they still wish me a nice weekend. I'm waiting for Sirius, who's only had three classes this morning, too, and we walk up to our office together. I have time now to properly enter the two dates into my agenda. 

"There will be a dance on 27th May. And I need to pick a date in August for that auction. Should be fun! Albus finds loads of things in those Gringotts vaults and many of them can be auctioned off."

"With the proceeds going to Hogwarts. Sounds like a great idea. He'll know what can go and what could possibly be harmful."

"Exactly. And he was happy to take the job. He might be acting as an auctioneer, too, what do you think?"

"Would be quite a good idea. We could also try to get someone from WWN who's popular and has a very able mouth..."

"Great idea, too. I'll write to them and see what we can come up with."

We gather all of our things needed and head down to our flat. I prepare the things we need to take along while Sirius gets the children ready. Once we're ready I have them grip the Portkey, which I activate as soon as everyone has it tightly in their hands. Even the twins can hold it on their own by now.

We land in the big living room on the Sunnegg and even though we're in a big tumble on the ground we don't mind. We get a hearty laugh for a welcome, but I'm up on my feet quite quickly.

"Well done, you little people. We'll have to do a bit of work on the landing though! Look outside, it's so beautiful here!"

The sun blazes inside through the big glass sides! I'm looking out and there doesn't seem to be one bit of a cloud in the winter sky. I've really learned to love the winters up here, as there's so much sun! It's still cold, but in the sun one doesn't feel it. The twins haven't been here since Christmas and they run to the glass windows. They flatten their noses on the glass to look out. Justin comes in and transforms to a cat. Seraina squeals and pounces on him. 

"Ouf!" Sirius cries. "Hey! Be a bit softer with the poor cat, Seraina. You can't pounce on poor Justin like you can pounce on Padfoot and Moony!"

Justin manages to wiggle out underneath the girl and takes a leap, Seraina runs after him and starts a big chase all through the living room. We grin, but we call her back. She looks back for one moment, then turns to the big tabby cat again, only to land straight on Justin who's transformed back. He's catching her and now she gets tickled until she's screaming. 

We have to laugh when Denny has recovered from the Portkey ride enough to join the fray with Addie, who helps the twins, so that now the tabs are turned and all three children crawl and jump over Justin and tickle him.

"What... ouf! Ouch! Seraina!... no, please! He he he he, stop! Seraina! What the heck! Hey!" Justin really looks like he needs help.

"And you're calling yourself an Auror, Justin?" Sirius asks with a big grin.

"Well, yes, I do my best!" he squeals between laughing. 

I decide it's time to pick up the twins from under the pile, because if we don't there will be that irksome moment when all the laughing changes to a lot of crying. Sirius and I lift a twin each and calm them down. Justin still breathes hard and turns to Addie:

"Well, now it's getting a bit easier, young lady! That calls for a tickle war, you do understand that, don't you?" he asks in a very menacing tone.

She grins. 

"Catch me first!" she cries and jumps away.

"Accio Addie!" Justin calls, pointing his wand.

She squeals while she zooms back to Justin. There's a very amused audience consisting of ourselves, Lily and James, Ginny, Ernie and Blaise. 

"Hey, Addie, want me to help you?" Blaise calls.

"Please!" 

Blaise hops on the scene, grabs Justin and while Addie gets out of reach, the two start a little mock fight. In the end Justin just rolls on his back, acting dead. That's of course, when Ron returns from his midnight to noon shift. He sees Justin and runs to him.

"Justin! What happened?" 

Justin waits, until Ron closes up, then he pulls his lover right down onto himself and sighs:

"An invasion of little people, Ron! Believe me, they're very dangerous!" Justin whispers.

But Addie has heard him and protests: "We're not dangerous, Justin!"

"No, we'we not!" Seraina squeaks from Sirius' shoulder. 

Sirius and I laugh again. 

"Not really, little one. They're just making fun of you!" Sirius tells her with a grin.

"Fun... good?" she asks.

Sirius guffaws. 

"Of course that's good, love! You laugh, therefore it's good. Just as long as you don't laugh at someone who's really hurting or in trouble."

**Sirius**

After all the hilarity it's not easy to calm the three children down, but we sit together to have some lunch, then the twins go down for their usual afternoon nap. Seraina as usual has no problem, but Denny is still a bit riled up, he needs some soothing before he's ready to sleep. Only half an hour after Seraina is he finally in the land of dreams. I return downstairs to pick up my briefcase with a couple of tests and essays to grade. I think it would be best to do it right away, so I'm using the time of the twins' nap for the grading of two tests, which is done pretty fast. The essays of my fifth years take a lot longer, they're quite long and I have asked for detailed ones, so that's what I'm getting. 

**Saturday, 19.2.2000 / Remus**

After a good night's sleep our children are all up and active again. Sirius is watching them, while I write the letter to Madam Reeves, asking her to contact me some time next week. I send this off with Anana, who sits on her perch after her night's hunt and looks happy enough for something to do. 

Then I join my family to take them out to a winter walk in the animal park in Bern. We're packing them all in the car, together with Harry, Hermione and Nevin. Hermione takes over the driving for once. It's nice to just sit with them driving! Sirius and I can just cuddle in the back row and watch over the children.

It's a beautiful winter morning! It's been very cold and there's even fresh snow, so the Dählhölzli looks very dusted over in white. We're all warmed with charms. Once we arrive at the small parking lot we take the strollers out and enlarge them and then we enlarge the pram for Nevin, who's taking his midmorning nap, but briefly wakes up when he feels the cold air. Hermione pulls up the hood of the pram and fixes it. Addie dances around us and looks forward to the walk. Once the car is properly locked we advance to the children's zoo. 

The Dählhölzli is a wonderful animal park set along the river Aare on a hill, completely covered with a fairly thick, protected forest. What is amazing is that it is practically just next to the centre of the town. The largest part of the zoo is open to the public for free. In the middle of it is a smaller area where a small entrance fee is asked. But we've chosen the parking lot right down on the river. This way we get to the children's zoo part first. We release the twins from their strollers for that and let them run around. They're like all other children delighted to get into close contact with the mini goats, who don't seem to have a problem with the low temperatures and the snow. They're climbing and jumping around as they would in summer. We let the children enter the paddock. Addie leads the twins to a small group of goats. They are still a bit timid, but soon follow Addie's example and reach out with their little hands. Sirius has the camera out and we watch how Seraina and Denny caress baby goats and squeal when the little animals nibble on their fingers and clothes. 

The children are practically alone and we don't see many visitors yet. The reason is probably that the weather really is cold, it's just below zero degrees, the frost is prominent on all plants and the snow covers the ground about five centimetres high. It crunches under our feet. But neither the cold nor the snow dampens the enthusiasm of our children. They climb around with the goats and we leave them time to do so as long as they are happy. Unperturbed by the cold because of the warming charms they play for at least half an hour. We're waiting for them to get their fill. It's Addie who gets enough after some time and calls the little ones back to the gate. I pick up Denny when he comes running all flushed and cheerful. 

"That was fun, Denny, wasn't it?" I ask.

"So fun, papa! Goat nibble Denny!"

"I've seen that, love. Are you still warm enough?"

"Denny wawm," he confirms with a nod and struggles to get down again.

I let him down with a smile. He's just as active as his daddy, has a very hard time to ever sit still. He calls Seraina, who's on Sirius' arms. Sirius lets her back down again and we start to slowly proceed along the few paddocks with mini-pigs, donkeys and ponies to the playground, which is now definitely not the best place to be. Even with the warming charms and thick gloves the play things can hardly be touched they're so cold, so we rather forcibly move the children along.

**Hermione**

Harry pushes the pram as we pass the restaurant on the little road to the first animal paddocks on the other side. We have to walk up to the forest area, because after the flood last year the newly restored area around the river has not yet been handed over to the public as they're still under construction. The whole lower parts have been almost a metre under water last spring and after that the people responsible for the Dählhölzli decided on taking the opportunity for a complete restoration of the natural ebb and flow of the river, which in this area means regular spring flooding of small ponds outside of the riverbed. They're still constructing the new structures, taking out all the old concrete formed ponds and leaving natural grounds. Along the old path they're building a long bridge with a grid underneath to keep the otters and beavers in their enclosures. The water can flow through freely. Smaller fish can enter and leave the ponds inside of the enclosures. There will be space for the grey pelicans, cormorants, beavers and otters. Of course the regular wild population that usually resides here will be just as welcome. Cranes, herons, ducks and storks usually populate the park during their nesting season. I resolve to come back as soon as this area will be open to the public in summer. 

But right now we're walking up a steep hill which leads us to the upper areas of the zoo. It's all still in the forest and we soon get to the large paddocks for the deer and other hoofed animals. There's red and roe deer, there are bezoar goats, there is a small variety of Asian deer. 

Seraina and Denny are back in their strollers for this part of the walk. It's like a large circle and we arrive back on the same spot we started out, then we turn to the part where we have to pay an entrance fee. This area is also still under renovation. There's now a flamingo pond, but of course it's much too cold for these delicate birds, which are inside somewhere, not open to the public. Along the way to the entrance we watch a few bird cages. It's fun to watch the twins trying to spot the birds, but mostly only discovering the sparrows flying in and out of the cages. 

Nevin is sleeping through all of this. Once we get inside of the building we have to get out of our clothes and remove the warming charms. I find a few chairs comfortable enough for me to nurse my son. I really watch out to keep a regular pattern. He's doing well, the little one, and usually I can feel the milk even before he calls me. Sirius and Remus take the twins ahead on the walk, while Addie stays with us. She's still amazed to watch Nevin suckle on my breast. It hasn't lost any of its fascination yet, but I don't mind as long as she doesn't distract Nevin. There is a changing table in the ladies' toilets, so I quickly take Nevin there to change him, with Addie in tow of course. 

"Can I do that, Hermione?" she asks.

"You could, but would you mind to wait until tonight? You can then help me bathe Nevin," I offer.

"Okay!" she agrees immediately.

I grin. Bathing is even more fun than changing the baby. I dress Nevin again and lift him up. He has started to give me smiles now and since then I feel him responding much more. I really found that a difficult discovery, that it takes so long until something came back from my baby. Something that told me that Nevin recognises me beyond being the source of his food. I pick him up and we return to Harry, who waits patiently for our return. We leave the pram next to the coat racks at the entrance. Then we walk around the small building admiring the exotic birds, fish and reptiles. 

"Harry, can you talk to the snakes for me?" Addie asks.

"I don't know if it works through the glass, Addie," he tries to avoid something with which he still doesn't feel comfortable. 

"I've heard the story of the vanishing glass, Harry," Addie counters with a grin.

"You're getting to be too much like your big brother, you know that, kid?" Harry shoots back, but there's now a grin on his face, too. After all these years I think he's made his peace with this story and sees it the way we see it. As a pretty good revenge on his cousin. 

Harry seems to attract the snakes in any case. There are some fer-de-lance vipers and they both seem to feel him, so they start to come alive and we see three of them crawling as close to the glass as they can get on their branches. Harry looks around, then he hisses something and listens as he gets a reply. 

"What are they saying, Harry?" Addie asks excitedly.

"Just the usual. That they are astonished that a human can talk to them and that I was currently the only one who could at all, though it beats me how they can know that, seeing as they have been in here ever since they were alive."

"Ask them!" Addie orders.

Harry seems to do just that. He turns back to Addie and translates for her:

"They say that there are many ways of getting information from other snakes. Through insects and birds. But one of them has been captured in the wild, while all the others have been here for a while. They came from other zoos. The snake captured in the wild knows most and it knows that the other master of the Parseltongue is dead. They also tell me that with Voldemort the last of Slytherin's line has been extinguished."

"Not that anyone cries about that," Addie mumbles.

Harry grins. Then he moves us on until we reach Sirius and Remus again, who are watching the leaf cutting ant colony. Addie shudders when she looks at them.

"Ewww! They look horrible. I wouldn't want any of them crawling over my hands," she decides.

"They are pretty ugly, aren't they?" Remus replies. "But they are amazing nevertheless. Look how they carry these big bits of leaves, which must weigh more than the ants themselves."

Addie isn't convinced.

"Can we move on?"

"Sure."

Once we're done on the inside we pick up our cloaks and return to the outside, where we immediately renew the warming charms. A fairly large area awaits us to walk through. We start with the seals who seem to enjoy the cold weather a lot and who frolic around the length of their long basin. There's a baby seal that absolutely delights Addie. It's from last spring, so it's grown to about half the size of the adults by now. What a playful little one, shooting through the water, jumping up on the resting areas and off again at lightning speed. 

When we get to the cages with the owls Addie feels so sorry for them, because they can't fly around freely.

"Yes, that is a bit sad, isn't it?" Harry agrees. 

We pass the area where the wolves are. There's a pack of five of them. The twins struggle to get close to them, but Sirius and Remus hold them back.

"They're not like Hermione and papa, sweetheart, you can't go and hug them," Sirius tells them.

"Why?" Seraina wants to know. 

I can hardly believe it. She's not even two yet and asks 'why' questions.

"They are feral wolves. Even though they're in an enclosure here, they're still quite wild and would probably think that you're an intruder so they would attack you to protect their territory," Sirius explains.

I'm not sure how much of this Seraina actually understands already, but she does strike me as a pretty clever little girl.

**Remus**

Finally, after strolling through the park for three hours we return down the hill and enter the restaurant for a snack before returning home. The twins and Addie get hot cocoa, the rest of us tea or coffee. There is a lovely cake buffet from which we let the children choose. They eat everything up not leaving one little crumb. No wonder, as they've been out and about in the cold for so long. Even the twins have walked about half the way on their own little feet. But they're both knackered now and I've hardly left the parking lot when they're both sound asleep already. 

To give them a good nap I take the time and we make a longer trip to reach our home. The twins and Nevin enjoy a long nap of about two hours before we get there. 

How quickly this day has passed. The sun goes down early. Once it's dark we enjoy the huge fire in the living room. The children, refreshed from their long nap, play on the carpet around us. Addie sits on one of the sofas and reads. Her cheeks glow in a healthy red from the sun. After coming home she's changed into a set of bright red robes, which contrast beautifully with her long black hair. 

Sirius and I get some cuddle time for us. Some of the gang are around and prepare to go out for dinner and later on for other activities. Jason apparates in just before dinner. Mandy gets up to welcome him. He'll stay here for dinner, then they want to go to the theatre in Bern to see an opera. 

I won't be able to talk much as it's a full moon tonight and I have to transform before dinner. It's still an early moonrise. So when Jason turns up, I'm already in my wolf form.

"Hi Jason!" everyone greets him.

"Hello everyone."

He sits down with Mandy and they start to talk about the latest Ministry gossip. I'm comfortably rolled up next to Sirius on the sofa. He keeps caressing me and I bury my snout in his lap, hiding my whiskers from our children who still haven't fully checked that they should not pull them. 

"Any juicy little scandals from the Ministry, Jason?" Sirius asks with a twinkle.

Jason grins.

"Sorry, Sirius, can't say there are any. Almost boring these days, no intrigues, no backstabbing, the best I can offer is that we have been working on collecting facts on Fudge to finally take him to court. Not like it wasn't at least five years too late, but there you are. He doesn't know that we're actually investigating. There's too much of a danger of him fleeing the country if we let it become known, so you know how to keep your mouths shut. I'm only telling you because you know how to do that. You guys would be some of the first who would like to see him tried and sentenced, wouldn't you?"

His grin gets even wider as he continues:

"I bet he thought he'd be let off the hook! But how can we let seventeen years of mismanagement be left unpunished? Almost everything Fudge did was questionable. You can only exclude the actions he's taken directly upon Dumbledore's advice, everything he did out of his own will was close to a criminal action. The amounts of bribe he's accepted from Malfoy and other high ranked Death Eaters for example. We did find a lot of evidence and for once the Gringotts goblins have agreed to cooperate, especially when we told them that they would certainly not be made responsible. The worst that can happen to them is the temporary loss of some fees for vaults owned by Fudge in case we have to close them down."

"Finally! I really can't regret that he will be made responsible for his actions," says Sirius. 

"Certainly not. Expect to get a call as a witness by the way. You are an important witness to prove what kind of a character he was and how his approach to legal matters was corrupted by his fears and the money he got from Malfoy and the likes. We're even tempted to see if Malfoy isn't ready to testify. But that will be a last resort, we do have the goblins' records of the payments made."

"Luckily they record everything, even the obviously illegal things..." Sirius mutters.

"Yes, well, for them the action wasn't illegal at all. I mean they transferred money from one vault to another upon the demand of one of their clients. Completely normal transaction. The illegal part of it is only within our jurisdiction concerning the giving and receiving parties. To every donation Lucius made for institutions like St. Mungo's he made a personal one to Fudge. He was made school governor strictly upon Fudge's wish against at least two thirds of the other governors and most of the staff at the Department of Magical Education who knew he'd only stir up political trouble. Would you believe that Fudge actually kept the original letter with which Lucius asked him to help him to this office? Malfoy was clever enough to keep out of the Ministry itself. He rather used his influence within the wizarding economy leaders."

"So what will be the actual charges against Fudge?" Harry asks.

"First of all corruption. But we'll be charging him for multiple aiding and abetting murder. And finally we'll have him for blatant misuse of his office before he became Minister and in the years of his service as Minister. One of the cases of course being Sirius', since it was Fudge, with the aid of Crouch, who discredited you from the grant of a trial, because they both decided out of the blue that the indices made you guilty without further investigation. Sending you to Azkaban for life without a trial could even be one of the key events to get a decision against Fudge from the jury."

"That sounds like quite an impressive catalogue," Hermione remarks.

"Oh, you bet, because that's just the general charges. Once all the offences are listed it's going to fill a couple of long rolls of parchment, believe me."

"Are you leading the investigation then, Jason?"

"I'm part of a team of four lawyers in the department. I'm currently busy listing all the offences. Two of my colleagues are going about the investigations in the archives and the last one has been busy negotiating with the goblins."

"Well, I would say that actually IS some interesting gossip, Jason. Our discretion is certainly guaranteed," Sirius promises.

"Thanks. I'm glad for that. Actually I'm glad for you guys, because I have a hard time working on that case and having to keep it all inside of myself. We're afraid he'd be out of the country the moment he notices what we're up to, but as soon as we have one or two more points cleared in our investigation we'll be able to go out and arrest him. That should be in the next three weeks."

After that they're moving away from this rather important subject, share dinner and more general gossip before Mandy prepares fully for her evening out with Jason. They both look very well dressed when they come back down from her room to wish us a good evening.

"Have a very pleasant evening, you two!" the family wishes them and they're off.

**Monday, 21.2.2000 / Remus**

At breakfast I'm getting an owl reply from Madam Reeves. She tells me to come by her office in the afternoon. Her stationery gives her Commumirror identity and I call her upon receipt of the letter. I am lucky, as she replies to my call.

"Hello, Madam Reeves, this is Remus Lupin."

"Good morning, Professor. Have you received my owl?" she asks.

"Yes, Madam, I have, that's why I would like to clear what time I can come to see you. Would it be alright with you if I came by after lunch?"

"Yes, that's perfectly fine. May I ask you why you wish to have this conversation?"

"Certainly. We need some advice regarding the young sister of my partner, Sirius Black. He'll come with me to discuss this. Adara Black is ten years old and has been kept locked up in her family's house until the summer of last year when we accidentally found her. Since then she's been home schooled, but now we feel that she really needs to learn to know some children of her own age. She's only ever been around adults or toddlers, but she has opened up nicely since we've freed her from her prison. We would like to know if you could give us some advice."

"Now that is a strange story. I would like to meet the child if it is at all possible."

"Certainly. We will bring her along then."

"Very well, then I will expect you in my office at around two? Mr. Black has come to school here, he will know the way."

"Thank you very much, Madam. We shall see you after lunch then."

We're taking our Portkey back well before lunch and leave the twins in the care of Lily and James after the meal. Sirius, Addie and I dress warmly and take our brooms out of the castle to ride down to Hogsmeade. Reaching the village, Sirius leads the way to the primary school. It's on the edge of the village, closer to the railway station in an area we practically never touched when we were students on Hogsmeade leave. The large building stands in the middle of a big garden with lots of trees and a nice playground. Sirius shows us the way to the headmistress' office. Addie looks around and asks:

"What's this building, Sirius?"

"It's the primary school, love. This is where James and I went to school when we were children, before we came to Hogwarts."

"Why am I not going here?" she wants to know.

Good question, little one. Sirius replies to it in a soft voice:

"Because we wanted to give you some time to adjust to all the people around you. To learn about the things you had no idea about because you were imprisoned, things that were blatantly clear to all the other children. They could have been very cruel to you about those things, you see, and even if they didn't think anything by it they could have hurt you very much. So we wanted to see how you get used to everyone, see that you know these abstract things before you come here. Also because your education has been very bad and not sufficient to get along with what the children of your age study. You're catching up quickly now."

"I see..." she says.

She has come a long way in just half a year. She learns fast, that is for sure. I do think she'll have the basis she will need to come to school for her sixth year here in September. Until then we want to give her the opportunity to learn to know some other children in a protected area. We reach Madam Reeves' office and I knock on the door. She calls us in.

"Hello, Professor Lupin, it's a pleasure to learn to know you. I've heard quite a lot about you already. Minerva is full of praise for you," she says, getting up as we enter the room.

Madam Reeves looks like she's about the same age as Minerva. She has a warm smile. She shakes hands with me, then turns to Sirius:

"Professor Black. Very pleased to see you again. You were a very bright student, but if I remember we've had a few less than nice meetings with your parents."

"Wouldn't surprise me in the least, Madam Reeves. They were pretty awful."

Finally Madam Reeves turns to Adara, looks her up and down and smiles at the girl, offering her a hand which Addie takes without hesitation. 

"So you are Miss Black. Well, let's all take a seat and see what we can do for you, young lady."

We're guided to a sitting area. Addie sits down between Sirius and I. Sirius tells Madam Reeves Addie's whole story and her development. At the end Madam Reeves looks pensive.

"I agree with you both that it might be a bit much for Addie to throw her into regular school right now. And I also agree that if we give her the opportunity to meet some of the students in her age group outside of the school then she would have an easier time to adjust. What do you think, Addie, would you like to come to my house where I could introduce you to two or three children to play with? Maybe you can make some friends and then it would be easier for you to come to school in September."

Some of Addie's timidity is back, so she only nods. 

In the course of the conversation we fix a date for the next Friday afternoon, when we would accompany Addie to Madam Reeves' Hogsmeade house where Addie will meet some other children. 

At dinner I sit next to Kate and tell her about the afternoon's meeting. 

"How old is Addie?" she asks.

"She was ten in December."

"That would make her a few months older than Stacey. He's going to be ten in March. How about he could be one of the children to meet? I can tell Madam Reeves, he's at the Hogsmeade Primary right now."

"Oh, that would certainly be nice. I never thought of asking you!" 

"I'm mainly offering because for a boy Stacey is quite a tender kid. I'm sure we shouldn't put her together with the most raucous children just yet," Kate remarks.

I nod.

"That's true. Though I think she'll do well with the raucous ones sooner or later, she does have a lot of mischief all over her. You should see how she's mock fighting with Ron Weasley and Justin Finch-Fletchley, they're really roughhousing when they play together. But of course it's because Justin and Ron always keep in mind when to stop. Children will have a more difficult time to see that point."

"Precisely."

**Friday, 25.2.2000 / Sirius**

After lunch we leave the twins to their nap and then Lily's care, and accompany Addie down to Hogsmeade. We find Madam Reeves' house very soon and knock on the door. She opens it herself and smiles.

"Hello! Do come in!"

We enter and leave our cloaks on the coats rack in the entrance hall. The house is quite large and welcoming. Madam Reeves leads us to a drawing room, where a girl and a boy sit at a small table and play some board games. They look up when we come in. 

"Well, let's introduce you all then. Children, I'd like you to meet Professors Lupin and Black. They are two teachers up at Hogwarts, so you'll meet them once you'll go to school there. And this is Adara Black. If memory serves me right you're called Addie, is that right?"

Addie nods. She presses herself to me, something I'm not used from her, but I don't push her away. Now Madam Reeves introduces the two children:

"Addie, this is Natasha Bender and this is Stacey Calverleigh. They are in the age group you would be if you came to our school. Would you three like to play something together?"

Natasha and Stacey get up from their chairs and come over to Addie. 

"Hi, Addie. Come, let's play! We have brought some Exploding Snap cards, do you know how to play that?" asks Stacy. I think, he must have been drilled a bit for this by his mum.

"Yes, I do."

She follows them to another area of the room, where they sit down together on a carpet. Madam Reeves invites Remus and I for tea. We sit down in some distance to the children to give them room to get to know each other.

"I have received an owl from Professor Calverleigh to include her son. She said she talked to you about it, Professor Lupin..."

"That's right. I haven't met any of her children yet, as she's keeping them at her home. Kate only works in the mornings this term and only four days, so she doesn't stay at Hogwarts, she goes home on most days. I just occasionally see her at dinner or lunch."

"Yes, she's living here in Hogsmeade. I have, of course, run this by the fifth years teacher, and she said that Stacey would be ideal to meet Adara. He's a boy, but rather one of the more quiet ones. Still up to enough mischief that he's not boring, so he should do well. I've chosen Natasha on the other hand because she really needs to have more friends. She is a bit of a special pupil, as she's a werewolf. She has been here until she was bitten something over two years ago. After that her parents decided to keep her at home until she had adjusted to her condition. I believe you know her case worker, Miss Brocklehurst?"

"We certainly do, Madam. Mandy was one of the students we taught in the safe house."

"Ah yes. I was told she went straight to the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to apply for a position in the Werewolf Registry, is that true?"

Remus smiles.

"Absolutely. We've owled Amos Diggory and he was only too glad to have someone actually volunteering for this job. Vacant, because a Death Eater held it. Mandy has done a fabulous job so far. The terrible location has become a friendly, welcoming one. She told me about Natasha."

"She would have. Anyway, after giving Natasha a year at home we brought her back. The other children know about her condition, but apart from Natasha missing a few classes after the full moon nights we notice nothing of her lycanthropy. She's actually a very pleasant child to teach it seems. So I chose her, for the reason I mentioned before and because I thought, Addie would be familiar dealing with a werewolf, since she knows you, Professor."

"She certainly does. Her first reaction was insecurity, especially since she came to us just a day before a full moon last year. But then she met me in my wolf form and wasn't scared at all anymore."

"Very good. Let's see what happens then. If the children get along you might want to organise playing afternoons with their mothers to give them opportunities to be together. They would all three profit from that. I'm quite sure that Addie would then be ready to tackle school and all the other children in September."

In any case it looks like the children get along. When we leave the house after three hours Addie looks happy enough. She's the one who asks us if she can play with Stacey and Natasha again. We promise her to set another day with their mothers later on.

**Tuesday, 29.2.2000 / Remus**

This morning I've got the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw fifth years and I'm putting in the lecture about the mistreatment of house-elves. I have collected what little evidence I've found about wizards and witches who have mistreated their servants and instigate a discussion about such behaviour. It becomes a very lively double period. Basically the students agree quickly that mistreatment is a really ugly thing, but then it goes on to a basic discussion about house-elves. For myself I think, Hermione will be proud of me, because starting such discussions means getting more awareness of the plight of the house-elves.

Fifteen minutes before the lesson ends I stop the discussion.

"You've all made your statements. Would you like to cast a vote to see the ratio of pro and contra?" I ask.

They're all for it, so I tell them to put their votes on a slip of parchment. I collect the slips and sort them for their contents. There are twenty-two students in the class and twelve of them vote to give the house-elves better conditions.

"Thank you all for this very lively lesson. You have done very well today. No homework, you have enough to study, I suppose."

That puts them all in an excellent mood. They leave the classroom with big grins on their faces, even the Ravenclaws. 

My remaining three morning lessons are a bit less fun, I lecture about loyalty oaths for the Slytherin and Hufflepuff seventh years and emphasize about the legal status of them all. The ones I'm telling them about are all illegal. The legal ones are taught in Charms and even those are strongly discouraged from being used. 

I'm wondering if I want to keep this lecture in future programs. It's one thing I'm going to discuss with Kate.

**Monday, 13.3.2000 / Remus**

I'm sitting together with Kate after lunch to start working over the best list of subjects for Defence. We have gone over some parts before Kate has started to teach, now we start to work out a proper sequence for future classes. 

"I want to do this thoroughly, Kate, because I will speak with Professor Montgomery to get a better overview of their methods to determine the OWL and NEWT exams."

"I think, that will be badly needed, I've gone over the material that's been covered in the past years and apart from yours and that false Moody's there was not much more than rubbish."

We have collected the subject lists of all the teachers in the past twenty years and look through their themes, cancelling the less important stuff. We start with the first year, which is still the best set over the years. First year is a lot of lecturing, lots of theory and little practical work. By the end of the afternoon we have gone over a better lesson plan for the first years. 

"So - what do you think. Should we also put together the theory texts for that ourselves?" she asks.

"I'm really tempted."

"That would mean you'd be working on two books at the same time, Remus."

I smile.

"Our autobiography is coming together very slowly. Since our publisher knows that it's some kind of a therapy he's agreed to give us open end. Payment upon delivery, so no one is under any kind of pressure. We're still working through our memories. You wouldn't believe the amount of notes we have from those from our childhoods and school years. We'll only use a small part of them, but still. The book will become pretty depressing... the only good thing about our lives so far is that we are in love and that we've had a happy end."

"In this case I suggest we proceed year for year. Work out the first year, then we have that part for next year down already."

"I agree. We're in no hurry, but I'd like to set the score for all years before we go about putting together the texts. Then I can do a better search for the set books for the next years until we're done with our own set books."

"Okay, that's fine with me, too."

"Don't let me hold you up with starting anyway if you like though, Kate!"

"Nope, I prefer you to work with me, you're much better with words than I am."

"Thanks for the roses. You're certainly not too bad yourself, lady. So get cracking!"

She grins and we part ways after she's given the twins a friendly pat on the head. I walk back to the living room after gathering my notes into a folder and pick up the little ones one by one.

"Hey, my dears! I've missed you..."

Is it pathetic to miss them when I've been less than a few metres away from them and they were actually napping?

**Thursday, 16.3.2000 / Harry**

I'm sitting down at the dinner table, finally free to have a look at the Daily Prophet. The headlines are big and fat and when I gasp, Mandy grins at me from the other side of the table.

"Former Minister Cornelius Fudge arrested" the headline reads. 

"Wow," I can't but whisper.

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asks, bringing in Nevin and placing him on the big baby blanket. 

"Fudge has been arrested..." I mumble and go on to read the article.

"Really? I thought it would never happen! That's really promising. Jason must be pleased, Mandy, isn't he?"

"Oh, he is! He's loaded with work, because Joanne McGovern is going to hand him the job of the lawyer for the prosecution in the trial. Fudge has named an expensive lawyer already, but he's held at Azkaban until the trial and he's had to give up his wand."

I'm reading the article:

"Former Minister Cornelius Fudge has been arrested on a long list of alleged crimes. It includes corruption charges foremost, but the Ministry is also charging him with aiding and abetting of murder and blatant misuse of his office, both as a junior minister for the Department of Magical Catastrophes and Minister of Magic. Ministry sources have been heard to mention that 'only the actions Fudge took upon the direct advice of Albus Dumbledore were ever proper legal actions' and that 'practically everything else was done in ignorance of the legal wizarding system'. With the help of his Secretaries and Under Secretaries Fudge went even so far to pass laws that would legalise his actions. Most of these laws have been taken back again. Currently, every law that Fudge has instigated is being looked at very thoroughly. 

Upon inquiries by the Daily Prophet at Minister Bones' we were informed that she had been able to stop a few of the laws to be implemented while she was still acting as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but many of them were accepted by the Wizengamot, a group of wizards and witches, which will have to stand trial for many of their decisions. 

The trial against Cornelius Fudge will start on 31st July of this year. It will be held publicly and it will not be the Wizengamot who will be in charge of the decision but a full jury similar to the kind that is used in Muggle trials."

"That certainly sounds like Minister Bones doesn't trust the Wizengamot at all," I remark.

"No, and she has reason to. Maybe we shall see some changes in that group soon. Jason speaks of the possibility that half of the Wizengamot should become elected representatives and only one half should remain on life long mandates. And possibly there will not be any life long mandates at all anymore after a certain amount of time. They are thinking of an age restriction of at least eighty to one hundred and forty at most so it will remain to be a senate," Mandy explains.

"That's almost democratic," I say with a bit of a sneer.

"Well, what do you expect? The wizarding society is very 'retarded' in its political views. Bones can't change everything at once. She's got to get a lobby for her new plans, which will not be easy to achieve, because it's not sure that the new ideas will be much better. I mean, how are we going about elections that won't be tainted? We all have magic, there are hundreds of ways we can cheat at an election."

"I haven't thought of that. I suppose it will be a matter of showing up personally and linking votes to magical signatures..." I muse.

"Sounds like a great idea. I'll pass that on to Jason, if you don't mind."

"No, of course I don't. He'll probably come up with something like that himself..."

"That's not said. It sounds pretty basic, but possibly the simplest methods are not always the ones one finds. I'll tell you what he thinks of it."

**Monday, 20.3.2000 / Remus**

Kate and I are going to see Mrs Montgomery today. She's gladly accommodated us for a basic discussion about OWLS and NEWTS in Defence and welcomes us warmly to her office. Kate and I have prepared this well and have brought a list of subjects, along which we want to teach the future generations at Hogwarts. We do leave some space for different demands as they might come up, but the basics we've set. 

"Good morning, Professor Calverleigh, Professor Lupin, would you like to take a seat, please?" 

"Good morning, Mrs Montgomery. Gladly, thank you," replies Kate and I accompany her to the small conference table, where I pull out a seat for her.

Then I sit down myself. We both produce the material we've brought along. Montgomery calls for a house-elf and a couple of minutes later we have a nice cup of tea in front of us.

"I understand that the two of you have worked out a new course list for Defence against the Dark Arts, is that right?" Mrs Montgomery asks interestedly.

"That is exactly what we did. After the last about twenty years worth of different teachers, most of which have not amounted to very much we decided to put together a course that will suit the needs of the students better. We have started off by listing all the subjects we both consider necessary. We would like to present them to you, because the OWLS and NEWTS should be adjusted to the chosen themes," I start to explain and hand Mrs Montgomery a roll of parchment for each year with the listed subjects for each year. 

Kate and I have actually managed to put the list together rather quickly. We have gone through the general subjects and broken them down to smaller bits, in some cases down to the spells we want to teach along with the reasoning, why we deem them necessary. 

"You know, this is a fabulous idea! I don't think any teachers have come up with that yet. We've put together the OWLS and NEWTS with some updating on more or less the ones we've had in the years before," Mrs Montgomery remarks.

I grin.

"And I bet I was the first teacher to come to you and ask for earlier OWLS and NEWTS tests to help my students prepare for them."

"Actually, yes, you were. We thought it a pretty peculiar demand at the time, but we didn't really see a reason not to grant you that wish."

"One of the reasons was that Sirius Black and I taught them what we thought was important in most subjects and that sometimes wasn't exactly what would come up in the tests. We gave them the opportunity to learn what kind of things would come up and prepare for the exams this way. But now I do think we should go over all of this and actualise everything and bring both, the syllabus and the exams to a more modern standard."

"Hm. I'm just a bit reluctant to just let go of a system that has worked for hundreds of years upon the request of one single teacher, Professor. You'll have to convince me first, that you have a better solution."

"Oh, I'm not talking about a change of the system. OWLS and NEWTS should remain exactly as they were. I'm just talking about the contents. Of both the syllabus and the exams. They should be harmonised."

"Ah, that's something else. I think that stands up to negotiations."

"First of all I'd like to point out that for the moment I'm only talking of Defence, but I also have History of Magic in mind. I do think it's time to give Professor Binns a good opportunity to finally retire by changing the demands of the syllabus. Too many generations of Hogwarts students have taken history lessons for just another opportunity to get some extra sleep."

Montgomery laughs. And admits:

"I do admit that I was guilty of that, too, and Professor Binns was still quite alive when I went to school."

We all laugh. We all know that this is really a course that could just as well be dropped, because no student actually learns anything.

"Well, I've had the opportunity to teach history at the safe house and decided to go a completely different way, one which would make the subject more important and much more interesting. The success I had was amazing. All of my thirteen students loved it. Even some who had more than loathed it before. It didn't take me much to improve the syllabus, but I certainly never talked about Goblin uprisings. But this here is our idea of what to teach in Defence. Professor Calverleigh and I have worked it over together and put this list together, which is quite detailed."

Mrs Montgomery quickly scans the subjects and nods to practically everything. 

"We might take a while until we have the questionnaires to these subjects together from our end..." she says.

"Well, we would like to implement the teaching based on this next school year, that should give the examiners enough time to come up with questionnaires, don't you think? Much of it can remain the same, we don't have too radical changes to the syllabus in here. We just combed everything through and set it more straight for the seven years. I do believe that the exams should mirror the subjects actually covered in class."

She nods. Then she says:

"Yes, that looks quite in order to me. How about the text books?"

"We'll both go through available books for the next year, but we're already working on our own text books. We would like to have them done by the next two years. I'm sure we should get there," says Kate.

"That's an ambitious program, Professor. But I understand that you aren't overly stressed anymore, are you?"

"No, not at all. I do enjoy teaching even more and I also enjoy that I get to have more of my little children this way. I can see them growing up and don't only see them off to bed or early in the morning. A great joy," I confirm.

"I think so, too. Mine are both going to the Hogsmeade Primary now, so I have more time to work," Kate remarks.

Montgomery turns to her. She has let me do the talking until now, but now the old lady asks her:

"How do you enjoy teaching, Professor Calverleigh? Minerva has told me that she's quite happy with your performance."

Kate smiles. As far as I have been able to see she does well with her teaching.

"I really like it very much, Madam. It's not been at the top of my career interests, but I'm very glad I've chosen it in the end. It's great to see what kind of an impact one gets. I really love the little ones, first years are simply wonderful to teach."

"Couldn't agree more, Kate. They're still so enthusiastic. And shy enough not to cause too much mischief."

She gives me an evil grin.

"Unless they are the Marauders' heirs, eh?"

"Guilty as charged. Though I was still quite shy in first year. I've only got consumed by them later. Had a strictly consulting function at the start..."

"You have to get up earlier in the morning to make me believe that, Remus..." she says with a laugh.

Montgomery laughs, too.

"So you were one of the infamous Marauders, Professor Lupin? And you became a teacher? I do find that rather remarkable. I remember that Minerva used to tell me the stories of your exploits. And let me tell you, she sounded annoyed but often enough on the edge of laughing about your pranks."

"Actually, it's not too remarkable in my case, because I was always interested in teaching. My friends used to tease me with the title 'professor' more often than not. What's really remarkable is that Sirius Black has settled down as a teacher. And that he has actually turned out to be a great teacher."

"That would be Minerva's successor as Transfigurations teacher, isn't it? He was one of your friends?"

"Let's just say, he represented fifty percent of the worst part of the Marauders. The other fifty percent being James Potter of course. I do think, Minerva had a few minutes of second thoughts about allowing the two of us back into the school, especially when James and Lily Potter came back as ghosts and spend quite a lot of their time at Hogwarts now."

Kate chuckles at that and remarks:

"The students absolutely adore James Potter! He comes by in class at times and they love it."

"Ghosts don't usually disturb classes..." Montgomery throws in.

"No, they don't and they mostly know not to. But somehow the students never get enough of James. He is great fun for them, when he helps them with things. I'd never have thought him to have a good hand with children, but they really like him. Even the Slytherins. And that's saying something," says Kate with another grin.

In the end it's agreed that we should look around for books covering the subjects we discussed and Mrs Montgomery keeps a copy of our list to pass on to the examiners, who will then adjust the OWLS and NEWTS questionnaires accordingly. Kate and I return to Hogwarts and report back to Minerva, who is interested to hear about what Mrs Montgomery had to say.

"I think, it would be good to extend that on the other subjects. I might ask the others at the next meeting if they found any discrepancies between their courses and the main exams," Minerva remarks.

"They should be mostly okay, because they haven't had all these changes in the teaching staff as Defence had. We've really seen some very strange people here with some strange ideas about what to teach to the students. Should get better now!"

"You're right, but checking over that can't hurt at all! If Eliza was okay with it, I do think it would be good to go over the course material. Well done, Remus, thank you for being the pioneer."

"That's okay, Minerva, it helps Kate and myself a lot, too, you know, especially when we'll go on to use the textbooks we'll put together."

When I return to our flat I find a letter on the dining table. It's from Albus and addressed to Sirius, the children and I:

"Dear Remus and Sirius, dear children,

As we are nearing the end of your school year I thought it would be a good time to send you all an invitation to come and spend two weeks here at my house in Cornwall during the summer break. I thought you might not yet have fixed any plans where to spend your summer vacation and you might be inclined to come and enjoy this lovely area where you can undertake so many different things. 

I would love to fill this big house with some cheerful children for a while. And I will like it very much to spend some quality time with the two of you. If you would grant an old man a wish you'd make him very happy!

Fondly,

Albus D."

There's a lovely surprise. When Sirius comes out of the study he notices that I've read the letter already and remarks:

"I thought it was sweet of him, what do you think? I'd like to follow the invitation, love."

"That's fine with me, love!"

"Then I'll write to him and tell him we'll come in the last two weeks of July?"

"Yes, I think, that would be fine. We'll be able to organise the auction from down there as well. It shouldn't take place before the third week of August. He might even help us..." I confirm.

"That's fine then, I'll write to him."

**Tuesday, 20.3.2000 / George**

We have mayhem again. Since we've come out with the publications and the commercials for Dragon's Tales it's been Bedlam! Draco is in France for most of the week, we just have a regular meeting on Friday to go through everything that happened through the past week and discuss the plans for the next week. Either Fred or I go over to the site where the fun park has become reality in the past thirteen months. We have started off with the water slides and the pools for the most part, but beyond that there are ten rides with different subjects. There's the classic ghost ride magically enhanced of course, but I'd bet it's a lot of fun! It's a lot more difficult to give magical folks a little fright though, we're all used to pictures that move and change and we have the ghosts to talk with, so we don't know if the people will actually like this part of the park or not. Then there is something almost entirely Muggle, I think they call it a roller coaster, but in our case it's going to be something akin to the Gringotts carts. There is a lovely old fashioned carousel for the small children, equipped with lots of magical creatures, not real ones of course. And there's a ride similar to the Himalaya rides the Muggles have, only it's lifted up a few metres into the air. We also thought that these bumping carts in Muggle fun parks are really fun, so we used some of those. For all of our rides we could forego the electrical part and have them running with magic, but to get that functioning Fred and I have really been working on a lot of spells. 

In the past six months we've gone through hiring a lot of staff. About two thirds of the people are French, but we've made it mandatory that they have to be able to speak English. One third are English. We've found a couple of friends from Hogwarts to work for us. There are about fifty people who will be responsible to watch over the rides and the slides. There are about two dozen who will work in the restaurant and the reception. Then there's a complete crew who has taken residence in the brand new headquarters of Dragon's Tales on site to run the administration of the park. They're the cashiers, the administrators and the planners for more ideas. We have roughly used half of the grounds we have bought, so there's still room for new things. Draco will be the boss on site while George and I have a new office here in London, where we'll do the marketing for Great Britain. Yann Delacour, Fleur's brother, does the same in Paris. 

WWW has become quite a company by now. We've moved to larger premises and have been able to hire new staff. Fred and I are still inventing a lot of new stuff and whenever one of our inventions drops in sales we are able to come up with something new. We'll also have a small shop at Dragon's Tales. But the shop is now run by hired staff and we can actually afford to pay all three of them.

We're working hard for the opening day. There has been a lot of interest and we've sold all available tickets and given out all the available invitations. We expect a total of 6500 people for the opening weekend. We'll have a small ceremony with the French Minister of Magic and there will be quite a lot of French and British wizarding celebrities around, some musical stars will play and our newly appointed Creative Director Fred Weasley will lead through the program. It's going to be one heck of a day on that Saturday!

But until then we're talking ourselves tired to organise everything. The official opening show will take place in the afternoon of the 15th April in front of the five hundred invited guests. Then there will be a feast in a specially made large tent with a stage and the whole evening will be musical entertainment and dance. And on Sunday the people will have a run through the park for the first time. I'm scared like hell as to how this will all work out! This is a huge thing we've started, but I do hope that everyone will be having a lot of fun.

I know we've had fun to work things out. I've been travelling a bit more, because Fred has Angelina and little Carolyn at home and it's only natural he wants to see them as often as he can. 

My Commumirror doesn't keep quiet for most of the day. Every five minutes someone wants something, some kind of a decision, some kind of a question, I really wouldn't know how we could run this thing without this ingenious invention of Hermione's. She's added two or three functions and now that the text bit works we've got the possibility to send back and forth little messages as well. 

For the past two months I've also had a secretary. She's working for Fred and me both, sticking to the office, so someone is here and selling tickets for Dragon's Tales until well into the summer. For security reasons we will not let more than six thousand five hundred visitors into the park on any given day. If we reach that many we'll be pretty well off! We've calculated that with a minimum of three thousand visitors per day we're in the profit range. Between two and three thousand means we break even. We'll see if the park holds the promises it makes.

**Thursday, 13.4.2000 / Draco**

I must be absolutely insufferable at the moment. We've got the jitters like hell for Saturday! Everything seems to go wrong, but that may only be my perception. Parvati has taken the whole week off and also next week, just to be there and keep me on my toes!

Yesterday Fred and George have come over with Angelina and little Carolyn. We've put them up in the guest rooms of our new mansion here in France. I've had this one built in record time a bit off Nice, but up in the mountains, where it's positioned in a way that gives us the view out from the mountains to the Mediterranean. It's a gorgeous house in the southern French style, lovely with airy rooms on three floors. It's pretty large and will become a really nice family home once we decide to have children. There's one wing entirely for guests and another for the family. 

We're sitting together and talk about Saturday's opening. It's going to be quite the in-thing, I suppose. We will have full press coverage from French and British press organs. The plans have been fixed, but we're still going over them one more time to be sure that we've thought of everything as well as we could.

The program stands, the parts that needed to be rehearsed look like they will work out and the musical entertainment is ready. For the music after the opening ceremony we'll have an orchestra to play dance music in one tent and the Weird Sisters in another, so the people can decide to what style they prefer to dance. 

**Saturday, 15.4.2000 / Parvati**

It's the great Opening Day today. It's noon and we're all dead nervous. Draco, George and Fred will be presenting the afternoon and evening, they're ready to go about an hour before the start at five o'clock. Angelina, George's date Alicia and I will share our table with the gang, Sirius, Remus, Addie, the Weasleys and Dumbledore. My parents and my brother Sadhu are also sitting with us. There are long rows of long tables in the big tent. We've decided on the tent form, because it's still fairly cool outside, definitely too cold to hold the event open air. 

Padma and Blaise have joined us yesterday. They have helped us and the DT crew to have all tables ready and all invited guests seated on them. Even though we can do all things with magic it's still quite a lot of work to have tables set up for five hundred. The tent is huge and separated in two parts. The silencing charms have already been set up along the fabric wall, so that later on the two different bands can play at the same time without interfering with each other. 

I'm looking at the sector I've done and I'm content. Once the whole set-up has been checked I'm leaving to the main building to get dressed. It takes me a while to get ready. We're all waiting for the guests to arrive.

The first turn up just shortly after two o'clock. They're naturally our nearest and dearest, who are led to their seats right after we've welcomed them. Harry looks so cute carrying his little son in a sling. Hermione has the pram in her bag - made small of course. Once we know how much space there will be she'll enlarge it and put the baby inside. With a one-way silencing charm he should be fine. 

At five every guest is actually seated and the tables are covered with stuff to drink for everyone. Draco, Fred and George get up and go to the stage. Fred will do the talking. I know that there will be some kind of a bang, it's the twins' enterprise after all. But I'll be surprised like everyone else, they didn't share all of their secrets with me. 

The invitation deliberately asked for a very casual dress, people were reminded that it would be a fun park and that they should be dressed for a fun party. Even the two Ministers and the other formal guests have shown up in casual wear. 

The 'bang' is quite harmless. But little Professor Flitwick would most certainly be delighted, because the spellwork for it must be quite impressive. Every single table 'blooms' tons of party stuff for everyone who's sitting at the table. I can see that Dumbledore is one of the first who grabs a silly hat and other 'decorations'. Streamers in all colours of the rainbow are blown over everyone and lots more hang in the air. Confetti rain from the rafters of the tent. Within three minutes the whole appearance of this huge tent has changed from elegant to overly colourful.

Even the three on the stage have been dressed up with streamers and confetti. Fred casts the Sonorus-charm on George who greets the guests.

"Ladies and gentlemen, dear small and big children, we would like to welcome you for the very first time to Dragon's Tales, a complete novelty in the wizarding world. I'd like to introduce us first, to all those who don't know us yet. To my right is Draco Malfoy. He's one of the co-owners and founders of this great fun park and one of our vice-presidents. He's also the largest financial supporter of the company. To my right there's my twin brother, Fred Weasley, who's the second in our triumvirate, and he's recently been made the Creative Director of DT. Many of the ideas for the park have been developed in that ingenious little brain here. And finally myself, George Weasley, second vice-president of the company and co-inventor of much of the mischief we're going to be up to in this enterprise. The three of us started thinking about something like this after an outing to a Muggle water park, which turned out to be so much fun that we asked ourselves why there wasn't anything like that in the wizarding world. 

"Soon we started to have a couple of more concrete ideas, discussed them and finally worked them out to a concept for this company. We've worked on it for more than three years, but now we can present to you all the new wizarding fun and water park."

Fred starts to give a couple of anecdotes of things that happened while they were working out the basic ideas, the choosing of the location, the buying of the land, how they went about charming the area Muggle-safe and then starting with the construction of the slides, pools and rides as well as the building. He's dong really well, plays the clown as he usually does, but at the same time he passes on lots of information about Dragon's Tales. After his speech, Draco and George say a few words, then they leave the stage to Fred who welcomes the prominent guests. First up are the French Minister, Monsieur de la Ravaille, and Madam Bones, the British Minister. There's of course a translation to either French or English constantly taking place. Monsieur de la Ravaille says a few words:

"When Mr. Malfoy approached me two years ago with the idea to build such an enterprise here in France I had recognised it immediately for what it was: an excellent opportunity for us to snatch up a very real first class business. The planning, preparation and construction have been followed with a lot of interest from our community and the work here has boosted wizarding crafts in the area. Many young wizards and witches have been hired to work here, another great achievement here in France. The French Ministry has therefore followed with great interest the progress here and we are so pleased that now it can be opened up. We do wish the owners great success and may this enterprise bloom and soon be profitable."

Then Madam Bones speaks up in a very similar way. She says how proud she is that there are industrious young people like Fred, George and Draco, and that they will help to boost the wizarding economy, which has been lacking inventive ideas for a long time, especially in Britain. After the more serious speeches from the two Ministers we get some sketches from three well known wizards, who often play their sketches on the wizarding wireless.

At seven the dinner starts. To go with the fun theme it's lots of good food and mostly standards that all children and teenagers love and most adults never get sick of. As the kitchen house-elves are all from France the food is French, and even though most dishes are simple dishes, they're very tasty and delicious. I can see that all children among the guests, and there are a good few, enjoy the food greatly. 

**Hermione**

What fun this is. Since this is a fun park the twins have insisted to make everything a laugh. There are quite a few of their traditional surprises, they must have been very busy in the kitchen, because randomly the transfiguration game starts up again and people start turning into a lot of little animals and things each for a few minutes. Even Seraina is caught, she's turned into a parrot. She's not very happy and glares, when she comes back. Sirius and Remus grin and tell her that nothing really bad happened. 

"Just George and Fred up to their usual mischief, little Marauder," Remus comforts his daughter.

"Bad Geowge an' Fwed!" Seraina cries and glares at the twins. 

"You tell them, Seraina!" laughed Molly.

Denny is laughing himself silly when he sees his sister as a parrot. Addie comforts her little niece as well. Soon it's almost forgotten and Seraina looks up at the stage, where the comedians have taken position again for the next sketch. After that there's a French singer who's accompanied by the orchestra. Parvati tells me that she's the greatest star in the French wizarding entertainment industry. She's quite good, has a lovely voice and Remus listens to the lyrics intently, so maybe she's got something to say. He applauds her with most of the audience. 

"Quite good. Do you know if she writes her lyrics herself, Parvati?"

"No idea. You can ask her, she'll be sitting at this table after her set."

"I will..."

**Remus**

That was a pleasant surprise. This Ghislaine Laroche doesn't only have a good voice, she even sings songs that have good lyrics. When she's taking her seat later on I get the chance to ask her a few things. 

"Yes, I'm writing most of my lyrics. Unfortunately I can't compose at all, so someone writes the music for my songs, but I have a say in what I sing, too. If my English was any good I could do some stuff in your language. Unfortunately I'm not too good at that..."

"Well, I like French anyway, so I don't really care," I say and grin.

"Your French is near perfect! Are you sure you're an Englishman?" she asks.

"Quite sure. But my mother was Swiss and most of my Swiss relatives speak French, so..."

"Oh, I see. Your accent does sound Swiss."

We talk for a while and she's happy to tell me her life and career story, which seems quite impressive. 

Once the dinner is over there's still another set from some British band, and after that Fred takes the stage once more.

"Now, for everyone who would rather dance to rock music we'll have the Weird Sisters who play on the other side of this tent, while our orchestra will play dance music in here."

About a third of the people get up and move to the other side, some of the tables on this side get reduced and the dance floor is set up. The remaining guests rearrange themselves around the tables again and wait for the music to start. 

Hermione places Nevin into his pram and casts a silencing charm, so that he can sleep. Sirius and I can soon put Seraina down into her stroller, over which we also cast a silencing charm and let her sleep. Denny holds out a bit longer, but just after eight he's out of it as well. Ron and Justin are the first up and join the first dancers on the floor. Molly looks after them with a bit of a glare, but she doesn't say anything anymore. I think, there is really no reason to anyway, I mean it will be four years since they've been together soon. 

Harry looks at Nevin and sees that the little one is asleep. 

"Want to dance, love?" he asks Hermione. 

"Yes, I'd love to. He should be okay..."

She follows him to the dance floor. 

"You go for a few dances as well, I'll watch over the little ones for a while," Molly says.

"Thank you, Molly! We'll be back and then you can go with Arthur..."

"Very well."

Sirius pulls me to the dance floor, where we join the other dances. I love to feel him while we're dancing. Out of the corner of my eyes I can see that Molly talks with Albus. Arthur has actually asked Miss Laroche and is dancing nearby. After two pieces we return to the table to relieve Molly, who now gets to dance with Arthur. Addie has found another kid her age and is over on the other side hopping and bopping to the Weird Sisters' music. 

**Sirius**

While we sit out a few rounds I'm going over to the other side of the tent to look how my little sister is doing. She's found another child around her age and they have gone off to listen to the Weird Sisters. I actually find them on the dance floor. Draco and Parvati are over here, too, and Parvati tells me that she keeps an eye out for Addie.

"Thanks, Parvati. She seems to be fine, that's something really nice to see."

"I think so, too. It's nice to see that she can be with children of her own age - she's only been with us and you and the twins, that must make it difficult for her to be with children of her own age group..."

"She's learning. She's in a playgroup with some other children from Hogsmeade Primary. When she's getting tired you best send her back to us. We'll take her to the hotel then. We can't stay too late anyway."

"I'll do that."

I return to the other side and find my mate at our table talking animatedly with Madam Bones. When I sit down she turns to me and says:

"Your partner tells me all about that book you're writing. I'm sure that will be an interesting one... don't tell me too much of what it will contain, Professor Lupin, I'd love to read it, when it's published."

Remus laughs.

"If ever. We're working on gathering all the memories and noting them down. Only for the first few chapters have we even started to write something. There's so much. But it's interesting to relive some of our lives this way."

"It can't be easy to see all the horrors again though, can it? I mean, both of you have seen your share of terrible things, especially Professor Black..." she says.

"It isn't nice. On the other hand it makes us humble and every time we see something in the memories that's hard to remember we thank Merlin for what we have now," Remus replies.

She smiles. 

"I'm sure you have lots of nice memories with your children now."

"Every day with them is a gift. And also the students. Maybe those two wars were good for something. It seems that the worst Death Eater families are all gone and what's left of them can now grow up much less prejudiced. You can't remotely compare Slytherin students today with Slytherin students during our own schooldays. This year we had two Muggle-born students sorted into Slytherin and there was hardly an outcry. At all. Shows how far they're coming down in the dungeons."

"You know, that's true. And it's good to hear, because I firmly believe that a lot of the trouble comes from that house segregation at Hogwarts."

We're talking for a long time while we share a few glasses of wine. Molly and Arthur come back to the table and Albus returns with Miss Laroche. Remus asks her to dance and she gladly agrees. I watch them go to the dance floor.

"You don't mind, that he dances with her, do you?" Molly asks.

"No, not at all. Just love to see him move. He's certainly one of the most graceful people I've ever seen. Just look how his moves are all flowing... I know that most ladies love to dance with Remus."

"Does he lead when you dance?" Bones asks with a grin.

"I do... because I'm a bit taller. But he knows how to, believe me. Sometimes he leads..."

"I see."

"We really love to share everything."

Shortly before midnight Addie turns up again. Two boys are with her. One of them I recognise as the boy she had left with. She comes to me and leans on me. 

"Are you tired, love?" I ask.

"Yes..." she says and yawns. 

"Remus is over there, dancing with Miss Laroche. You can go and tell him we'd like to go back to the hotel..."

"Okay." 

She walks over and I see her approach Remus and Miss Laroche. Both look down on her, then at each other and immediately they follow her back to the table. Remus pulls out the chair for his dance partner and she thanks him:

"Thank you very much, Remus, that was very nice. You are a wonderful dancer!" 

"I have a very good partner..." he says and beams at me.

"Yes, I could see that when you two danced together. You look very elegant, even in such casual clothes."

"Thank you. You are not half bad yourself, you know! Thank you for the very entertaining time," Remus replies and turns to us. 

"Hermione and Harry left already?"

"Yes, just about half an hour ago. Are we ready?"

Addie has her cloak back on as it's still quite cool outside. Remus and I get the twins covered well and then we bid goodbye to everyone at the table, before we get our Portkey at the entrance of the tent. There are a few house-elves who are handing the Portkeys out. They're pre-charmed to the different hotels that have been booked for the guests. 

"Which hotel please, sirs?" one of them asks.

"The 'Mistral' in St. Raphael, please," says Remus.

"Here, sir. You need to activate it with 'Portus'. Then you can use it again during the weekend to come here."

"Thank you very much."

We all grab the Portkey, hold the twins' hands to them as well, then Remus taps it with his wand and activates it. Moments later we land in the lobby of a nice little hotel where we've checked in last night. We have one room for the children and one for us. The little ones are off to slip soon, even Addie is out of it the moment she's in the bed. I cover her carefully and kiss her on the forehead. Then I take Remus by the hand, go out of the room and lock it. We return to our own room. While we slip under the covers I remark:

"That was really quite fun, wasn't it? Fit the twins very well, nothing formal at all, even the Ministers were quite easygoing."

"Yes, I thought so, too. Everything was so light hearted. Really fun."


	22. Exploring Dragon's Tales (part 1 of 2)

Title: Chronicles 22/?

Author: Mariann

Summary: Exploring Dragon's Tales and more work on the Pensieve

Rating: This part NC-17 - overall anything from G to NC-17

Pairings: Sirius/Remus, Harry/Hermione, Ron/Justin, Ginny/Ernie, Draco/Parvati, Blaise/Padma, Lily/James

Disclaimer: The usual --- I'm borrowing some characters from the HP universe for my own nefarious purposes. They will be perfectly alright, when I hand them back to JKR

Feedback: yes, please? xstitcher_ch@yahoo.com 

Archive: here, Wolf and Hound, Azkaban's Lair if Nezad wants it and ??

A/N: >> ... > It's back at Hogwarts right after the funeral and the reading of Alphard Black's will. We're sitting together in the Gryffindor common room and the mood is still a bit sombre. We're already discussing the crisis in the wizarding world, which is shortly before its worst at that time.

The next memory conveys a happier mood though, as it's New Year's Eve and yet again we have been able to smuggle in some alcohol, which we pass around while we listen to Lily's records. There's some dancing going on and some sniping between Lily and James. They get along much better than in the years before, but Lily doesn't even think of going out with James yet.

The evening gets late and once the new year has started the small party dissolves and people go off to their dormitories. Sirius and I undress and hop into my bed, pull the curtains and cuddle. I remember that night as if it would have been yesterday. It was the night we made love together for the first time. We had been together for a few months, but so far we were staying clear of any kind of penetration. It wasn't planned and we totally surprised each other by not just stopping where we usually did.

I watch as memory Sirius starts to caress and kiss my younger self. Sirius looks at me and we both smile as we remember consciously what happened that night. Sirius undresses next to the four poster and he looks at Remus doing the same. Both don't bother with night clothes, they just slip under the blankets of the bed and move together. Remus pulls Sirius into his arms. Siri kisses him deeply. Both start to caress each other and the blanket gets pushed down quickly. 

"Silencing charm, you guys!" James calls from somewhere outside of the curtains. Sirius grabs his wand from the nightstand and casts the silencing charm, then he pushes his wand under a pillow. He continues to snog Remus until both of them start to pant. Remus pushes Sirius onto the back and starts nibbling his skin along his nipples. 

Both are really cute boys. Remus looks almost like he still looks, minus the age signs, but his facial expressions and his body language is quite the same, only he's still small. Sirius is taller, lanky and still a bit gangly. I can now see them totally naked, their erections prominent. It seems like this isn't the first time they're together like this. Remus nips his way across Sirius' body, down to this lovely cock, which is turned up and almost reaches Sirius' navel. He starts to caress the penis, strokes it quite hard. Sirius' moans get louder and he whines.

"Yes, love, oh, that's so good! Come on, give it a good lick, please!"

Remus grins and replies:

"Oh, good, you know the magic word..."

"Remus!" Sirius whines pleadingly.

Remus laughs softly and keeps on stroking the penis, then he bows down and starts licking the head. Sirius caresses him over the shoulder and encourages him. Remus opens his mouth and pulls the head inside, then he starts to suckle. The way Sirius looks reminds me of my lover when I do the same. I throw a glance at Harry, who seems mighty embarrassed, then my eyes move over to Lily and James, who seem to be a lot less fazed. Maybe they've already stumbled over a similar memory and finally I watch Sirius and Remus who both smile the widest smile. This seems to have some meaning to them. I turn back to what the boys are doing.

Remus looks up to Sirius and says:

"I want to go further, love..."

Sirius' eyes go wide and he breathes hard. Panting, he asks:

"You mean... go all the way?"

"Yeah. I want to feel you completely and I want to come inside of you."

Sirius looks a bit scared for a moment. So this seems to be the first time they're talking about penetration. It takes a moment, then Sirius nods. 

"Okay." 

Remus pulls Sirius' wand from under the pillow, points it at Sirius' abdomen and mutters a small spell. Sirius shudders a bit, then he asks:

"What the heck was that, Moony?"

"Just a cleaning spell, sweetheart. It means there's now not a trace of unwelcome stuff inside of your intestines."

"Oi! Where and when did you learn such a spell, pray tell?" Sirius asks, looking flabbergasted.

Remus laughs.

"Well, the library and its contents do have some good things to find, you see..."

"Say no more!" Sirius exclaims theatrically. And then: "So that's how you spend all that time in the library? Perusing it for stuff like that?"

"Not only..." then Remus grins: "Besides, Pomfrey uses this spell on patients..." 

With a further spell Remus gets his hands slicked. He puts the wand back and starts preparing Sirius' opening. Sirius instinctively pulls up his legs and pushes himself up on his elbows to look behind and see what Remus does. 

The blond boy now puts some of the lube onto his own erection. 

"I'm going to loosen your muscles a bit, Siri, so I won't hurt you too much when I penetrate..."

With that Remus pushes a finger inside and starts poking around. Sirius drops his head on the pillow and starts to lightly push against Remus' finger, which is soon joined by a second and a third finger. All of a sudden he must have hit the prostate, because Sirius screams.

"Wow! Go back there, Remus, right now - oh, this is good, heavens, this is incredible, yeah! Whatever those books were you read, they must have given you a few very good clues..."

It's nice to see that it doesn't seem awkward for them at all. But then they've spent some time together just discovering how their bodies react, before going all the way. Now they seem to be quite familiar with each other. 

After a while Remus pulls back and places himself behind Sirius. He picks up his slick penis and holds it to the entrance, then he slowly pushes it inside. Sirius gives a whelp and wines for a moment, until Remus gives a final shove and is now deeply embedded in his lover. Oh, I know so well how this feels, Sirius! I love it when Harry does that, I have no idea why, really, but it's usually a really good feeling. 

Sirius seems to think so, too, because when Remus finally starts to slowly rock his hip he sighs. He's breathing deeply and raggedly, while Remus begins to thrust. Remus closes his eyes, as he kneels behind Sirius and only moves his thighs and his hip. All the muscles in his thighs are clearly visible. Remus moans soon and as he returns to that spot deep inside of Sirius, our dear Padfoot almost loses it. He screams and moans, tells Remus to go faster. Remus slips out once or twice and has to push back inside, but Sirius seems to be past the painful phase, he rocks back into Remus to meet his lover's thrusts. Remus doesn't hold out very long, soon he lets go with a last moan and slumps down on Sirius as he pulls back. 

"Oh my... that was something..." he whispers.

They're so cute! I've of course never seen anyone else but myself and my lover having sex, well, apart from the fact that I've probably walked in on mum and dad once or twice in my early years, but watching this memory doesn't feel awkward or anything. It's just simply cute. The next memory is pure fun. We watch James, Peter and Sirius in their animal form prowling over the grounds of Hogwarts at night and I'm under the Invisibility Cloak. All of a sudden, Padfoot lifts his nose and tears off in the direction of Hagrid's hut. We must be following one of Siri's memories, because we are drawn with the dog. Padfoot gives a few barks, there's some hissing and a cat screaming and then we see a grey tabby cat streak up a tree with her tail all bushy. Padfoot sits down in front of the tree and barks happily. Looking closer I recognise the cat - it's Minerva! It takes a while, then Padfoot gives a last bark and takes off. He trots behind a couple of bushes and we follow there. McGonagall outside of the castle can only mean trouble and we have to call off our plans for a prank on Hagrid. We slink back to the castle and find one of the lesser known entrances and enter. Once we're inside in a small room and covered with a silencing charm, we break down howling with laughter.

"Heavens, that must have been the greatest fun ever. I smelled it immediately that it was our esteemed Professor, and the best thing is that she has not the slightest idea, that this dog was really not a dog!" Sirius cries.

"I have to admit it looked very funny seeing her racing up that tree, Padfoot. I wish I could tease her with it once," James howls.

"I'd like to be a fly on the wall of the teacher's lounge tomorrow," cries Peter. 

"Well, you could be a rat in the shadow of the walls," James suggests.

"Actually you're right, I could!"

To make sure we don't get caught only James and Peter go under the Cloak. Sirius and I wait in the room. We take the time for a bit of snogging, then James comes back and I vanish under the Cloak to return to the Tower. 

The next few memories are flashes from time spent at the common room, in the dorm, in class and in the Great Hall. Time to pack. Sirius does it with more care than we usually see from him. The original idea was that he would return to James' place first, but I've written to my parents and now he'll be allowed to come with us to Switzerland, where James and Peter would be able to spend some time with us. We're sitting together at the end of year feast. Lily has actually started to spend more time with us and sits next to James. Peter's on James' other side, Sirius and I sit opposite them. 

We discuss the holidays and Lily remarks: "Wow, you all get to go to Switzerland. Not bad!"

"Yeah, and I'm really looking forward to it, it was great last year, wasn't it, James?" Sirius asks.

"It was. I loved it!"

The memory shifts to the next day when we arrive at King's Cross and greet my parents who have their usual Portkey ready to take us home. After a hearty goodbye to James, Peter, Lily and our other friends we just get a glimpse of the Blacks picking up Regulus, who scowls at Sirius as usual. Mr. Black tries to come near us, but my father activates the Portkey and we're gone.

The memory picks up when we reach our destination. Sirius and I are now of age and allowed to use magic, so we levitate our trunks up to my room. 

"Remus, Sirius can have the guest room!" mum calls.

"Okay, mum!" 

We do put his trunk into the guest room, but he doesn't intend to really sleep there. Again the memory shifts and it's the next morning. I'm waking up in Sirius' arms, he's still fast asleep, so it's probably my memory. Looking at the alarm clock I can see that it's way past nine in the morning and when mum knocks on the door and opens it, she sees us both in the same bed right on the first morning of the vacation. She looks a bit shocked.

"Why don't you get up and come have breakfast, love?" she asks.

"Morning, mum. Yeah, we'll be down in a moment..." 

I'm waking Sirius up as soon as mum's gone. We get up and dress, then we go to the bath for a quick wash of our faces. When we turn up downstairs my mum looks around and remarks:

"You could have said something that you didn't need the guest room, Remus..."

I can see my younger self and Sirius blush deeply. Both don't know what to say, but once we're sitting at the table gobbling up our breakfast, mum says:

"I knew you had your eyes out for this one, Remus, you practically admitted to it last summer, remember?... So when did it happen?"

"Shortly before Christmas, mum. Well, before, really, but that was when we became a couple," I explain.

"Good for you. You both need someone to love," mum says and strokes Sirius over the head. 

"You don't mind?" Sirius asks, rather insecure and rather untypical for him.

"No. I've had since last summer to get used to the possibility, Sirius. Remus looked so moonstruck after you left. It seemed quite obvious to me that he was really in love."

We're both still blushing even more. It's too funny to watch now. And then it gets sweet, because Sirius gets up and hugs my mum. And mum, who knows he's never been hugged by his parents hugs him right back and kisses him on the cheek.

"You're very welcome, Sirius. I'm glad you two have found love. As I said, you both need it. Never hold back showing it to each other, you'll soon find out it's worth every bit of energy you put into your relationship. I suggest, you move your trunk somewhere else..." One of the first memories was right at the welcoming feast in seventh year, when Dumbledore read through the list of people who had vanished or died in the two months between the end of the last term and the beginning of this one. The Great Hall was constantly decked with black drapes and even though they usually only stayed on for a week we saw them often. And usually there were several drapes, for every person close to a student or teacher who died. Even the Marauders were rather subdued and more serious. We did work and studied for NEWTS after all. 

We get to see Lily and James as a new couple on the Halloween feast. They come into the Great Hall hand in hand and once people around them notice they start to holler. James looks so happy it's sickening. A glance over to the teacher's table shows us that it has also been noticed among the headmaster and deputy headmistress, who both seem to be pleased as well. 

By that time Remus and I have already reached the status of an almost old married couple. No one even bothers to look anymore, when we turn up somewhere as a couple. By the time we reach the Easter holidays I take Remus house hunting and we look at a lot of flats. We find one in Shepherd's Bush, it's in an old building, but it's pretty. There's a fairly big living room, two small bedrooms, a tiny kitchen and a bath. We will have a place to stay right after school. 


	23. Exploring Dragon's Tales (part 2 of 2)

To move on a bit faster we're just prodding the substance in the Pensieve and let the memories rise out of it, then move on to a next one. Our pile of notes has become pretty huge by now and we have to start to skim.

**Monday, 24.4.2000 / Remus**

We have all day for ourselves today. Winky takes over the twins, Lily teaches Addie and we sit down to skim through our notes. We start to write seriously now, going over our childhoods first, then our Hogwarts years. First drafts are done and embellished with all the information from our Pensieve memories. If we need a certain part again we put that particular memory back into the Pensieve and watch it again.

In the afternoon we return to Hogwarts. The twins are giddy again and awake after their afternoon nap and we play with them until it's time for dinner. Once the children are in bed we return to our writing. We have taken over a year for the first set of memories, we want to work through them now. It's fun and we advance quickly. We're actually both writing the book together, constructively criticise and improve our writing.

**Tuesday, 25.4.2000 / Harry**

We're hopping up to Hogwarts in the afternoon to eat dinner with the remaining Marauders. Ginny, Ernie, Ron and Justin are with us to celebrate the twins' second birthday. When we enter the castle it's just shortly before dinner and the whole school seems to be up and about. We meet Professor Sprout on her way to dinner.

"Well, hello, you young friends! How nice to see you again. Are you going to see the little Marauders?"

"Yes, since it's their birthday... Ginny, Ron, Hermione and I are godparents for them, so we have been invited for dinner."

"That's very nice. Enjoy it then! Oh, and isn't your little boy just adorable, Mrs Potter!"

"Thank you, Professor! We love him to bits as he's got Harry's easygoing character. He's just growing so fast!"

We move on. Remus has given me the passwords through the Commumirror this afternoon. We pass the barriers quickly and get to their flat. They welcome us warmly and the twins come running. Ron and I catch them both and twirl them around, much to their delight. What sweet children they are.

"Hawwy! You'we hewe!" squeals Seraina. 

She has a lot of the letters down in her articulation, but she still has problems with the R and the T.

"Hey, Seraina. I'm here and so's Ginny, look! How is my little birthday girl?"

I'm giving her a very hearty kiss on her cheeks while I'm talking to her. She giggles and says:

"Saina fine! Saina bithday!" she says.

"Yep. Your second birthday, love."

Hermione has enlarged Nevin's cot and puts him down into it to be able to say hello to our favourite canine couple. Mum and dad are around, too, so we're quite a nice little party. Addie comes to say hello, too. Minerva and Poppy seem to be invited as well.

"It's great to have you all here. I suggest we sit down over here first, so the little ones can finally open their presents and then we move on to dinner," Sirius says.

We all find seats around a coffee table, sit down and watch Remus take the concealment charm from the pile of gifts. Seraina and Denny know very well what those mean by now and squeal of joy. We quickly add ours to the pile and Sirius explains:

"Well, you two little ones, we'll have to find out which ones are Seraina's and which ones will be for Denny, so what say you? Do I summon them?"

Seraina, from my lap, nods excitedly. 

"Okay then."

Remus summons a gift for Denny and then one for Seraina. I catch it and hand it to her. She nibbles it open while I save the little card. 

"Look, it's from Professor McGonagall, Seraina!" 

Seraina unpacks a little book, containing the Beatrix Potter stories, but not the version I've seen, the illustrations in this book have been animated to wizarding style. 

"Oooh! Look, Hawwy, wabbits! Wead please!" 

"How about we read it before you go to sleep, Seraina? It looks very nice..."

Denny has also received a book from Minerva, but his are Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge stories, also illustrated with moving pictures. Both books are really nice and I can see that Remus loves them already. Denny has run over to him to show him the book.

"This is lovely, Denny. Something to read before you go to sleep. What do you say to Auntie Minnie?"

Denny moves on to Minerva and thanks her. She lifts him up and kisses him.

"You're very welcome, Denny. I hope you like the stories."

"Papa wead Denny..."

We all grin. It's certainly most often Remus who sits down with his children to read books to them. I'm always amazed how even little Dennis sits still on his father's lap when Remus tells them a story.

"I certainly will enjoy reading both these books to you two. They're absolutely sweet, Minerva. Thanks a lot," Remus says with a smile.

The next gifts are opened, which turn out to be mine and Ginny's. We got them some coloured building blocks in a big box for each of them. Together they will be able to construct quite a big tower with them. Hermione and Ron have chipped in together for books as well. They get toys and some clothes from their fathers and more toys from Poppy. Once all the gifts have been unpacked we move on to their dinner, which will end with their birthday cake. 

Of course it won't be late for the twins, in spite of their birthday, because they can hardly keep their eyes open. 

**Remus**

Sirius and I take our children to bed. As soon as Seraina is in her bed she calls for her new book from Minerva. I sit down on her bed and take her on my lap. 

"We'll wait for Denny, love - look, there he is!"

Denny comes in and I help him climb on the bed. He sits down on my other leg and both lean on me. They are already very tired, I don't think they last longer than two pages. I start to read the story to them, while they look at the pictures. Seraina suckles on her pacifier and nibbles the ribbon around the neck of her little stuffed wolf. She falls asleep almost as soon as I start talking. Denny isn't much better. Sirius watches us from the door and picks up his son as soon as the little one sleeps. I banish the book to the dresser and put Seraina in her bed. It's still spell secured. 

Then I return to the living room, after putting up a one way silencing charm so that the children won't hear us in the living area. It's nice to have everyone around. We're talking the whole evening until the young ones have to go. Sirius and Harry fix the next Quidditch date and Sirius reminds him that the next Gryffindor match will be next Saturday for the Quidditch cup. Ron's ears perk up, too and both promise to come and watch to cheer for their old house.

**Saturday, 29.4.2000 / Sirius**

I'm getting up late this morning. We've stayed at Hogwarts of course, as there's the final of this year's Quidditch season. Much to my pleasure the Gryffindors have managed to play well enough to be one of the finalists. The stands fill up with the students and lots of parents and other relatives who gladly come up to Hogwarts to watch their children play. 

Some of the gang are here, too. Harry and Hermione have come, Neville and Hester are here and Morag has brought Nicole along to finally see her very first Quidditch game. They sit with the Gryffindors, as do I, which means I'm away from my lover, but hey, I'm here in support of my house! Remus has to keep an eye on the latest commentator, who's a Hufflepuff, therefore he won't have much to do. The kid is pure fun, something like the Weasley twins, but he's really fair. He'll even be fair to the Gryffindors though Hufflepuff is this year's other finalist. I've naturally bet two Galleons on my house with Edith. Have to follow old traditions, now don't I?

**Remus**

Really, I'd love to sit with Sirius and the gang, but sometimes there's that little thing called duty, so I take my place with the other teachers. Chester Gray, a sixth year Hufflepuff, is the commentator this year and so far he's done his job brilliantly. He's the complete opposite to his studious twin sister Irene, rather of the same quality of the Weasley twins. Probably their best customer, too. But he's a true Hufflepuff and as such he's making some jokes, which are sometimes rather crude, but at least not demeaning. We expect a fair game anyway and secretly I hope that Hufflepuff wins, because it's been so long since their last triumph. On the other hand I know that Sirius will pout for a long while if he can't look at the cup for another year! Well, there goes nothing, the game will start any minute.

**Morag**

We've come up to Hogwarts, I've apparated Nicole to the Gates. It's still rather fresh, but I've prepared us and we're cosy warm on our seats in the stands. We're joining Harry, Hermione, Neville, Hester and Sirius, who has Addie and the twins. 

"Hello, everyone! You've made it!" Sirius greets us happily.

"Yes, and I'm all excited. After all that is going to be my very first Quidditch game I get to see! You've talked so much about the stuff that I'm really hoping for something extraordinary!" Nicole teases Sirius.

"Well, this is school level, but the kids play quite well. If you like it you might want to join us next time we're going to see a league game, why don't you?" Sirius says.

He looks happy and relaxed. While we wait for the game to start he brings us up to speed about their work on the book.

"We have our childhood and Hogwarts years covered. Next we move into the unpleasant part. And I mean unpleasant. Unpleasant right through until Remus took us to Switzerland. But I have to face those memories, I've repressed them for too long. I need to access them and work them out, as bad as that's going to be," Sirius admits.

"You'll do it, Siri. If anyone can, then it's you. And you've got your mate there, too. And James and Lily," I remind him.

"And you lot. I'll probably need you. Currently we're going through the writing process. That will take a while. I have the plan to have this part done until the middle of the summer break, then tackle the evil memories during the summer break."

James and Lily turn up and squeeze themselves on some free seats. Lily waves over to the teacher's stands, where Remus reacts and waves as well. Nicole takes in the height of the stands. She looks down a bit worried and even more worried she looks up and sees that we're just very little above the goal rings. Then the teams come out to the field, where Madam Hooch already waits for them. 

"So, the reds are the Gryffindors and the yellows are the Hufflepuffs, is that right?" Nicole asks.

"Well spotted, love," I say and grin. "How did you guess when we're sitting in the midst of all that red?"

There are some sixth and seventh years who still remember me from my last year at Hogwarts. Of course we'll talk for a while during the game, but as the players are off I have to explain everything more in depth for Nicole. She watches quite in awe and asks a couple of good questions. I leave it to Harry to reply to most of them. 

It's not a very long match and Gryffindor wins it by just something more than the value of the Snitch. Sirius beams when his house team is presented the cup by Professor McGonagall.

"That'll be nice to look at in my office for another year," he states. 

We all laugh. We know what Gryffindor means to Sirius. It seems he's doing a great job with the house, too, as all of the students are doing their best to get along with all three of the other houses and still have a lot of fun doing it. I think that the pranksters among the Gryffindors just extended their prank pulling on Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as well, so the Slytherins wouldn't think they're the ones the Gryffindors are after. When I talk to them out of Sirius' earshot they all tell me how much they like him as a teacher. I grin. 

"That's how much we liked him in Switzerland, where he was probably even more easygoing. Here you've got the whole respect thing, but we were all calling Remus and Sirius with their first names, which brought us all much closer together."

"He often mentions the good relationship he's had with you guys. Man, were you lucky!" a fifth year says.

I grin. 

"Yeah, we considered ourselves lucky. It's good to still be a big family."

**Friday, 5.5.2000 / Mandy**

Sirius and Remus turn up after lunch for the meeting by which the trusts will be set up. Remus and I will be the trustees for the Werewolf part, Sirius has invited Hermione and Jason to be the trustees for the fund to help the research team working on the confinement spells. The meeting takes place at one of the larger conference rooms in the Ministry. Madam Bones is present, too. Then there's Mrs McGovern, the two current spell researchers, Amos Diggory, who is the head of the regulating department over the Werewolf Support Unit, some press and of course the goblins from Gringotts to set up the official trust. It's not a long act, as the legal bits have of course been done beforehand, this is more like the symbolic setup of the trust. Remus, Sirius, Jason, myself, Harry and Hermione will go out for a nice dinner at a London restaurant after the presentation and the press conference.

It's my first press conference and I'm terribly nervous. I'm glad that Remus is with me, who's by now used to quite a lot of publicity. He must be the best known werewolf in all of the UK by now! Of course we both get bombarded with questions, some of them hard ones and more than one that shuts even Remus up.

"What makes you think you should have the right to even step up and utter one word to the public, Lupin? Werewolves will always be Dark Creatures and no legal rights will change that," one particularly petulant reporter asks. He's the one that has already asked several rather awful questions.

"Let me get this straight, sir, you are not ready to let go of your prejudices even though my office can give you facts and figures about the exact amount of werewolves in Britain and how many... or I better say how very few of them misbehave? I repeat: there are 238 werewolves in this country at this moment. We have about one to three new cases every year. What does that tell you about their danger to the public? It tells you that out of these 238 werewolves at least 230 take care about where they are during the full moon. And not one single one of these people is a danger to anyone... **anyone**... outside of the full moon night. So when will it finally go into the head of your sort that they deserve to live and thrive like everyone else? It seems that some of you people out there have not understood the danger werewolves present if they are left alone, left to poverty, to homelessness, left to hunger. What I'm working at right now is to give these people, because they are people like you and I, those who have no secure income like Professor Lupin, a home. A purpose. A job. A way to earn their lives and live a healthy life. And a way to keep themselves as well as everyone else safe during the full moon nights. I rest my case," I answer in Remus' place.

I know that I could easily talk myself into such a huge anger that I'd become more than straightforward, I'd become aggressive, but I think, I've done quite well.

The press conference seems endless. They ask the research team a lot of questions, but of course they can't give too much away, which is made clear, because even if future prisoners kept held in by those confinement spells will not have wands they could use the knowledge of how those spells work.

"Will the Dementors at Azkaban be replaced by these new spells?" one reporter wants to know.

"Eventually, yes. But the first goal will be to build a whole new prison and use these spells to hold in prisoners serving time for minor offences. We don't think that someone with a sentence for a few months to a few years need to be punished with the Dementors. In the end there will only be a few high security cells kept at Azkaban for the remaining Death Eaters. Once these people are gone the Dementors will go. So you can see this is really a long term plan," Joanne McGovern explains.

"So how many Death Eaters are actually kept prisoner right now?" another reporter asks.

"36 on life-long sentences and about 120 on shorter terms between several months and about eighty years, and out of them we do have hopes that about fifty can be brought back to a normal life, so we guard the privacy of those, but the list of the others can be seen at the Auror Headquarters," McGovern replies.

When the blasted press conference is finally over, we're moving to the Leaky Cauldron, where we meet Harry and change into Muggle clothes. Then we find our restaurant by way of the Tube. We spend a very nice evening. Hermione has left Nevin to Dobby's care and frets a bit, because it's really the first time she has done that. We try to calm her. But she and Harry decide to leave home rather early, which we understand. We get up to see them go. Sirius and Remus embrace both of them and so do Jason and I. 

"See you next... I suppose you stay with Jason," Hermione says.

"You bet. Need some of that lovely grown-up fun," I repeat with a grin. 

**Remus**

We're not leaving very late either. Mandy and Jason quietly vanish through the backdoor, from where they'll apparate home, we do the same a while later. We arrive at Grimmauld Place, where the children are under James and Lily's care. Winky is there as well and she's a great help. We love the little elf as she's so devoted to the twins and Addie. And to us, too. She just likes to care for someone and we never have to tell her anything, she always knows what needs to be done. We hardly get her to rest either. Sirius opens the door of the house, which can now be seen again. It's funny, that no one asked a question where this additional house came from and why it hasn't been seen for so many years. But we have given it a thorough renovation, not only on the inside, on the outside the builders have passed as well. The last bit had been done by the painters, giving it a new light blue lick of paint. The door and the shutters on the windows have been painted a very dark brown. Sirius taps the doorknob discreetly with his wand, it opens and we enter. His arm is firmly around my shoulders. I lean on him while the door closes and the light goes on. I look up to Sirius' face.

"That has been an inspiring day, except for the nasty questions, but I suppose the guy just wanted to be a nuisance," I declare.

"Yeah, it has been. I wanted to tear that ass to pieces, but Mandy has handled him quite well. After all she's done a thorough job and can prove every one of her statements with facts she's collected. I do expect her to be able to abolish the Code of Conduct. And she can now hire an assistant. She says that the job will definitely go to a werewolf."

"With time I hope that people see that it's ridiculous to keep up that whole rubbish for less and less people. I mean, the werewolf population isn't exactly growing!"

"No, it isn't, I agree, but with better living conditions those who are around will live a lot longer. Look at yourself, you're so healthy now you'll last for another century. At least!"

I grin. He's right, I've never felt so well before. It's of course for a large part the fact that I'm an Animagus and don't need to trouble myself with the painful transformation. I pull Sirius into an embrace and feel something very nice - he's already hard. I rock a bit against his hip and he moans.

"Mmm... you're in for some 'grown-up fun' as well, aren't you?" he asks.

"Absolutely."

James has heard us and comes through the wall. 

"Hey there! Had a nice evening?"

"Very nice, thank you. Everything okay? Thanks for the babysitting!"

"You're most welcome. It's always fun to baby-sit your little ones, they're such a nice bunch!" James says with a grin.

"They are, aren't they? Do you mind if we're moving right on to bed? I suppose they're all sleeping, aren't they?"

"Yep. Last I peeked through the wall they were..." 

Sirius makes a move with his hand as if he'd want to hit James over the head, but both of them laugh. It's just like James to really enjoy these things he can do as a ghost. He has actually told me that he loves this being a ghost. He only misses food and drink and sex. But that's a lot of good things to miss, I think.

"No, we don't mind. You go on and have fun, I know how you look when you're hot for each other," James teases.

We grin and wish him and Lily a good night. Then we go straight up to the children's rooms and check on them before moving to the master bedroom and the bath for a quick wash. Sirius practically jumps out of his clothes and sends his dinner jacket on a coat hanger in our wardrobe. The rest gets dropped on a pile in the bath. I watch him while I brush my teeth. He looks at me and slowly caresses himself from his chest down to his thighs. His cock is already nice and hard. It's still almost upright when he has an erection. I'm feeling my own body respond to this view and I hurry up with my toothbrush. I quickly rinse my mouth, wash my hands and dry myself. Sirius comes closer, kisses me quickly and picks up the brush to give my hair a quick brush. I love it when he does that. Just a minute or so later we're on our bed. I pull him close and kiss him, begging entrance for my tongue, which is granted immediately. Ooh, it's so good. And he's caressing me now, slowly, taking more time with those areas he knows I like it particularly. I know our male erogenous zones are rather centred around our cocks, but I really enjoy being caressed all over my body. Sirius knows that and he takes his time. He knows, the more time he gives me the better I'm ready for him without having to bother with a lot of lubricant. I'm already all wet when he gets close to my opening with his fingers. He glides in easily. Of course he also glides in easily because we're used to having intercourse on most days, errr, rather nights. I can hardly remember the last time we've made love during a day. Must have been before the twins were born.

Sirius is very concentrated. I'm all relaxed and looking forward to him entering me slowly, relishing the feeling of his cock filling me completely. Once he's pushed inside, he starts to move slowly. I pull him very close, slinging my legs around his hips and holding on tightly. I love it when he starts losing control and just thrusts and thrusts. It gets so deep this way, but the way it feels I could have him tear up my insides I'd probably still moan and scream. Sirius doesn't even stop thrusting while he bends down to find my mouth for a searing kiss. I just breathe harder and move against him, meeting all of his thrusts with my hip, to possibly feel him even deeper inside. 

My prostate contracts and I come, spurting out my seed and feeling absolutely great. Sirius follows me right away, screams when he comes and lets go of his semen. We collapse in a sweaty heap and disentangle our limbs to be able to hold each other and to return to kissing and caressing. I breathe in deeply. He just sighs and manages to kiss me lightly on my lips. He lifts his hand and caresses my face. I do the same and look into his eyes. He pulls me close and we find each other for another kiss. Finally we clean ourselves up and pull up the duvets. It's still the best thing in the world to go to sleep after a really good orgasm. 

**Saturday, 27.5.2000 / Minerva**

As soon as the students have left the Great Hall after lunch we have it closed down for them to prepare it for tonight's dance. It will contain the regular house tables, but the music needs to be set up. Andy Croft, a young moderator from WWN will be the, what do the Muggles call it? Oh yes, 'disc jockey'. I remember the young man from his school days, of course, but once one has seen at least a generation of students it's impossible not to meet them again all over the place. Croft was a Ravenclaw who finished Hogwarts round about 1989. We have asked him to bring along a very good mixture of music styles, so the students really get to dance their ballroom dances as well as some casual hopping around. 

There is no dress code for tonight. The younger years will leave the Hall after dinner and those who want to stay on for the dance can just stay on. We have told them to wear anything they like, as long as it's not the school robes. So I expect a wide range from Muggle clothes to robes of different colours. All the teachers act as chaperons.

The Great Hall looks lovely. It's a spring theme, so Filius, Remus and Sirius, who are in charge for the decoration set up lots of lilac branches and the flowers bring the heavy lilac scent into the Hall. The colours are from white to pale pink to purple. The teachers' and the house tables are dressed with pale pink tablecloths and all the napkins are in the darker purple. Even on the tables are lots of lilacs. I have to say it looks rather magnificent. I can always count on the taste of those three, they're really impeccable when it comes to a good sense of colour and decoration. 

"Very well. I really like that. Now I can't wait to see what the students wear to honour your work."

"We'll see. We're off to get dressed now. You look really swell, Minerva! One has to love that dark purple on you, makes for a really nice change from all that emerald," Sirius compliments me.

"Oh, Sirius, you're flattering me! But thank you anyway. I'm feeling quite 'spring-y' today."

"And so you should, Minerva," Remus follows suit. 

The two of them return half an hour later. We all gather in front of the Hall. The doors open and we let the students inside, while we walk up to the teachers' table. After the regular dinner the little ones return to their houses and the older ones look forward to the dance. Filius moves the house tables away and replaces them with a couple of tables for the refreshments and the chairs remain along the walls of the hall. The music starts soon after and to my pleasure I see that most students really do dance as do some of the professors. I'm really not surprised to see Remus and Sirius out there on the floor. They're still quite elegant dancers. Young Quentin Smith steps up to me and I follow him to the dance floor. I really do like to dance now and then and I'm happy to have had the idea for this little dance. 

Once Quentin has asked me out I'm dancing with most of my colleagues and even accept some of the older students, who are very polite if still a bit stiff. But it's really nice to see they have fun and seem to enjoy the evening. It finds an end at midnight, when we terminate the music and watch the students heading off back to their dormitories. 

"That was quite nice, I really enjoyed this evening," Remus says next to me. 

"Yes, so did I. I'm very glad that I did bring it up. With the setup like this there are hardly any extra costs and the school governors didn't mind it in the least. I can easily spare the cost of the music system and the disc jockey from the regular Hogwarts allowance."

"That's great. We should repeat it then. Not always in spring, it would be fun to switch the times for a ball and do it every second or third year," Remus suggests.

"That's roughly my idea. Well, I suppose we can go to bed then. They were amazingly well behaved weren't they?"

"They were. It was nice to see so many of them stay on."

I have to agree. It seems that most of the tension of the past twenty years really does vanish now. I have a few more ideas of bringing the houses closer together. We'll organise the one or the other game afternoon on a weekend now and then which will take place in the Great Hall and where all the houses can come together. I have charades in mind and maybe even some theatre groups... I'll have to run these ideas by Remus. I'm quite sure this could be a good experience to get them together more. It's not just Slytherin and Gryffindor, sometimes there are pretty snobbish Ravenclaws, too.

I return to my quarters. The OWLS and NEWTS for this year are through, it's the rest of the years who have end of term exams in the next two weeks now. The first week will be the first through third years, the second week it will be the fourth and sixth years. I will have to see if Remus still has his checklist of things to do at the end of the year and the beginning of the vacation, but I'll bet he has. He's so reliable!

It will be so very nice to go south in July. Albus has invited Filius, Edith and I to his house in Cornwall. Remus, Sirius and their children will be there, too. Which means that the school is going to be left completely alone for a few days. I am really looking forward to some nice chess tournaments on Albus' sunny terrace above the sea!

**Friday, 16.6.2000 / Remus**

It's with satisfaction that I'm watching the students file into the Great Hall for this year's leaving feast. Ravenclaw has snatched the house cup with a last effort from their fourth and sixth years' finals, which were really outstanding. Gryffindor is second, for a good part because of the Quidditch cup. Hufflepuff made third and Slytherin is last, but mostly because there are less students in the house to make any points. The last two years have both been strong years for all but Slytherin house, I wonder how many new students we'll get at the beginning of September. And if the Sorting Hat still only places them in Slytherin reluctantly. The now third years are still eleven students, but the other houses received a lot more students and the new second years were only six! If that's becoming a trend then I see a chance that Slytherin house will become a very normal house in future. With just as fun loving normal children as any other one. 

I do have a revolutionary plan in mind though. I want those children out of the dungeons. I want to open up the North Tower to become the new home for Slytherin, because it really, really hurts me every time I watch children sorted into that house to be sent down in that terribly dark location. It's unhealthy and has probably done as much to their awful attitude as the prejudices have that they bring along from their pureblood homes. 

Hufflepuff is down the stairs, too, but in the other direction. Like the kitchens, the Hufflepuff house lies in a lower part of the castle, but it has access to light through lots of windows. It's just in the part of the castle that's built lower than the rest and looks out on the lake below, while Slytherin is really located in the abdomen of the fortress and with no natural light whatsoever. 

Minerva and I have the petition ready to be presented to the school governors at the first meeting of the year right after the beginning of the summer break. It's signed by all the teachers and if the school governors agree, there will be lots of activity in the North Tower. Sybill had to be convinced, that the top of another tower would make for a good classroom as well, and then the North Tower and a bit beyond will be remodelled to become the new Slytherin commons and dormitories. 

But right now I'm only thinking of these things. I watch our students taking their usual places on their house tables. I can spot the one or the other relationship blossoming and some are between the houses. Minerva would probably prefer for me to tell them off from sitting at another house table, but I'm not doing anything of the sort. If we really mean to get the house rivalry reduced to the house cup, then we have to tolerate the students sitting down at other tables if they prefer to do so and if the other housemates don't mind. 

And then Jon Higgins comes into the Great Hall hand in hand with his girlfriend, who's a Slytherin! It's Victoria Hamilton, the only Slytherin in Sirius' Animagus class, where they met and fell for each other. She doesn't even bother about her house table and sits down with the other Hufflepuff seventh years. I smile and bend over to Minerva:

"There, look at Jon Higgins and Victoria Hamilton. Lovely couple, the two of them, don't you think?"

Minerva pulls a tiny smile.

"They are. Nice to see she's not glued to the other Slytherins. That wasn't a very easy year."

"No, they weren't. But I expect they will become better and better now. I mean, how many pureblood Slytherins are there left to actually reproduce?"

"Not so many. There's the Hamiltons, of course, Victoria's family, then there are some branches of the Nott family. Severus actually does have some more distant relatives, the Kieran family, there should be some children old enough for Hogwarts in the next few years, then I could name about four or five other families. There are still a couple of Malfoys out there."

"And soon to be expected Malfoys... Parvati and Draco plan to have children soon."

"Oh, do they? Well, that's not guaranteed Slytherins, but there's of course a possibility. Right now I think the Sorting Hat seems to consider a rest and it seems rather reluctant to place children into that house. Maybe it thinks there should be a few less of them until the contamination of that house has ceased for a while."

"It's strange, but that might actually be the case. Can you talk to it during the rest of the year?"

"Sometimes it even offers advice of its own. You will find that there's a lot more to Hogwarts than just tradition. Albus has brought me up to speed with most of Hogwarts' secrets over the years. Once you become headmaster or headmistress you get a completely different relationship with this castle, it's as if the power held within these walls incorporates itself into you and you learn to work with it. You'll start to feel some of it on your own in the next few years. Fascinating, really! I think, Albus was such a great headmaster of this school, because he was open to every one of those things, he really made use of the portraits, the Sorting Hat, many of the other little bits. I think, he even listened to the walls and learned some things from them." 

Amazing fellow he is. Minerva is right, I'm already beginning to feel Hogwarts much more deeply than I've ever done that before. Having learned it so well when I was a student here only helps. 

The Hall has filled. When we think everyone has arrived, the door is closed. Minerva gets up and doesn't have to stand there long to have the silence she wants. 

"Well, that marks the end of my first year as your headmistress. I'm happy to see we've all made it."

The students snicker. It's not often that Minerva is so high strung and makes jokes. 

"I'm happy to tell you that all of you have passed your exams. The seventh years among you will now set out and start their adult professional life and we, the teachers of Hogwarts wish you all success for your chosen careers. And the rest of you will be back in a few weeks' time and I hope that you come back eager to learn even more. 

"I'm not making this a long speech, I'm coming right to the award. This year's house cup has been won by Ravenclaw house with 521 points. Excellent work, dear students! Enjoy tonight's feast in the Great Hall decked out in blue and bronze!"

Minerva waves her wand and the Ravenclaw decoration comes up. Filius is very happy, because it has been quite a while that Ravenclaw hasn't managed to win anymore. I can hear Carla tease Filius:

"Your students only managed because your house has been flooded with students these past two years, Filius!"

But I think no teasing will keep Filius from feeling very, very happy tonight. His house hasn't won the cup for sixteen years, a really long time. But I expect the concurrence between the four houses getting a bit more even now. We don't have any biased professors on board and everyone is willing to hand out points according to the merits, not the house. So everyone applauds Ravenclaw and Filius Flitwick. 

We enjoy a very nice meal and I keep discussing our next week's activities with Minerva. 

"Sirius, I'll need the leaving Gryffindor seventh years' files by Monday. Need to replace all those files to the archive..." I remind my lover.

"No problem. Just the contents or the whole files?"

"I'm going to integrate the contents into the folders I keep, so you can keep the actual folders."

"Good, then I can reuse those for next year's first years."

It's the full moon tonight, so I take my leave a bit early. Sirius and I return to our flat where I have time enough to undress and transform.


	24. Addie makes a new friend

**Saturday, 17.6.2000 / Sirius**

..

After a late breakfast we watch as the students leave the castle to return to Hogsmeade with the carriages. Most of the seventh years come and say goodbye to us. I have Seraina on my arms who looks at the students with her big brown eyes and quite a few of the young ladies ooh and aah over her. As soon as the carriages have all left Remus and I take our family for a nice walk on the grounds. We take the weekend off, but then Remus and I will be quite busy with the rest of the staff to organise the great auction in August. We have set the dates for the 19th and the 20th of August, and it's being published by the Daily Prophet for about four weeks before that. 

..

..

**Monday, 19.6.2000 / Remus**

..

I'm collecting the students' folders from all the heads of the houses and gather them into the archive box which goes down into the cellar archive. The box of the year 1900 jumps into my hands and I fix the date with Mrs Montgomery to pass it over to her. Then I sit down in my office and open the Book of Names. Sirius and Minerva are with me when I copy out all the names of the students who will receive their first Hogwarts letter this year. The children are listed as they are born, I have to put the list into an alphabetical order afterwards. I'm reading the names and their birthdays and dictate them to Sirius, who copies them on slips of parchment first.

"Algernon Barnstead, born 12th September 1988. Jessica Herndon, born 23rd September 1988. Basil Flushing, born 23rd September 1988. Frederick Murphy, born 24th September 1988. Lisa Smith, born 2nd October 1988..."

It's a long list again. I suppose by the time almost a decade of peace had come to pass the wizarding folks started to trust that peace and decided to procreate! The list grows to sixty-eight names, ending with "Tamsin de Mimsy, born 19th July 1989". To write the envelopes and letters I'm using a special magical object, which is closed into a the same shrine in Minerva's office as the Book of Names. This is a specially built desk with a glass top in which the Book of Names is set up with the enchanted quill that writes down the names and birthdays of all the magical children in Britain. Plus I get a small list of foreign children from the Ministry. Usually our Ministry receives a number of names from foreign Ministries in countries in Europe with no magical schools of their own, like Switzerland and Austria. Sometimes parents in those countries request the schooling of their children in Hogwarts instead of Beauxbatons, Durmstrang or the Schwarzwaldschule, the only German school. This year I get eight of those, one of them is a Muggle born child in Austria. 

"That's your visit, Remus, you speak German," Minerva decides on the spot. 

"Sure. We'll make it a family outing from the Sunnegg next week. We have three weeks left before we go to Cornwall, might as well make a small trip through Austria."

"Lovely idea, Remus. We can go by car."

"And use Benana or Anana for the letter. One of them can also take the letter to that Swiss child. Then there are two in France."

"Why do they get a Hogwarts letter, they sound quite French to me..." asks Sirius.

"They've most probably asked for it. That happens sometimes. You might want to speak to their parents while you're on the continent to find out how proficient they are in the use of the English language and ensure that they get the Polyglot potion if needed," Minerva suggests, "but usually we get the international contingent upon the wish of the parents, so most of them only need a bit of guidance to find Diagon Alley and the shops there if even that."

"Might, yes. From where are the other four? One is from Hungary and two from the Netherlands and the last is from Belgium. That must be a Flemish kid, they wouldn't send it to Beauxbatons if it has to speak French there..."

"Why on earth not?" Minerva asks. 

She's quite ignorant about customs on the continent. 

"Because many Flemish Belgians prefer to speak English than having to speak French. Even though they all know French perfectly well. But they don't want to be reminded that there's also Wallonians in Belgium and that they make for the larger percentage of the population. Many wizards are just as prejudiced in that regard as the Muggles."

"Oh, and the Wallonians speak what language?" Minerva wants to know.

"Well, French."

"I see. Well, then those are all left to you should they need contact from our side. Send the letters and have the owls wait for a reply in these cases. And visit this Austrian girl."

"Antonia Heller. Now to find out where they are all living."

For this purpose the quill is used as a tracking device. We put it on the envelope and have it write out the name. It automatically produces the address at the time we address the envelope and writes it down. Then we put it on the sheet of parchment and the text of the letter, dictated once, follows immediately for all the other letters. Only the name changes. All I have to do is to sign my name on the parchments. We take the whole day to write out the envelopes, the letters and add the list of books and equipment as well as possible extra explanations for Muggle born children. I hold back the ones to the children on the continent, as we'll be heading for the Sunnegg as soon as I've delivered the archive box to Mrs Montgomery and I'll dispatch them from there. 

Once the clear-up work is done we're packing to go to Switzerland for a good two weeks. Addie and the twins look forward to it, because it's sunnier than London and they have a lot more freedom to go outside and play in the sun. 

..

..

**Thursday, 22.6.2000 / Sirius**

..

Off we go! I'm packing what we want to take from Grimmauld Place while Remus takes the archive box to the Ministry. As soon as he'll be back we'll use the Portkey to the Sunnegg. The weather outside is quite nice, pretty warm and we know that it's even a lot warmer in Switzerland. The twins run around all giddy, looking forward to having a lot more of Remus and I than during the school year. Addie tries to be a lot more grown-up and demonstratively helps me putting things into the suitcase. I make everything small, place it in the case and finally we're done, just as Remus comes through the door. 

"Hey, are we all ready already?" he asks and comes closer to kiss me. 

Denny and Seraina come running and he catches them in his arms, giving them both a smack on the cheeks. They giggle and want to leave right away. Remus has made his stuff ready for me to put in the case and when I tell him that I've taken everything he's happy and we get the rope that takes us to the Sunnegg. Addie, the twins and I hold on to it. I have the suitcase in my other hand. Remus checks, that the twins hold tight and activates the Portkey. 

Seconds later we're inside of the sunny living room at the Sunnegg. The twins let the rope go and are off like little rockets, through the open door and out on the grass. Remus grins. Addie looks at us and asks:

"Shall I go and look after them?"

"That would be very kind of you, darling. We'll take everything up to our rooms and join you later, okay?"

"Okay."

Addie goes after the twins and looks after them while we're taking our things up to our rooms. Dobby seems to have cleaned up five minutes ago as everything is spotless. We get the stuff out of the suitcase as fast as we can, change to some casual Muggle clothes and are out in the sun with our children as soon as we can get there. The twins are delighted, because Justin has turned up, who has a late shift and who conjured them swings on a special metal frame. Addie sits on one and she's going quite high. Funny that she likes this, as she flies very easily on her broom now and that gives you a lot more freedom, but she seems to enjoy it. The twins go a lot easier. Justin gives them light pushes and they swing lightly back and forth. 

"Mowe Ju-tin!" Denny cries.

Wouldn't he? I join them and take over giving my son's swing little pushes.

"Hello, Justin! Where is everyone?"

"Hi guys! Ron, Draco and Parvati are working, so's Mandy, the rest are out swimming. I didn't want to go along and then have to leave for my late shift. I start at two in the afternoon..."

"Oh, good. Neville will probably come over as well, but he's still doing a lot of work with his plants."

"How is he doing?"

"Just fine! He really enjoys working at Hogwarts. Edith Sprout pampers him worse than his grandmother, but strangely enough he can take it from her where he hated it from his gran," Remus says.

Justin grins. We all know that Neville loves his gran to bits, but he hates being pampered by her. I stop pushing Denny and pick him from the swing to sit down on it myself and put him on my lap.

"Want to go a bit higher, love?" I ask.

"Yeah, daddy!" he replies once he stops protesting.

"Okay. I can't go too high, because you're still very small and I don't want to drop you, but we can make it a bit faster and higher together."

I speed up a little and hold him well against my body. He squeals and seems very happy. It's lunch time soon and he starts to get tired. After a few minutes I slow down and declare:

"That's all for now, love, we can do more later. We'll be having lunch in a moment."

Lily and James turn up outside and greet us happily. The family is complete and I'm feeling totally free of everything.

..

..

**Remus**

..

..

Utter bliss. We're home again and we are free to enjoy a couple of weeks of vacation. I do have the intention to prepare some stuff, but we've brought most of what's to do up to speed. What still needs to be done is send off the letters for the foreign students, which will be done right after lunch and send the letter to the Muggle-born girl in Austria, which will be done on Monday. Until then I'll look up a hotel in Vienna, so we have some place to stay for a few days. We'll go there by train, which I have to organise still, but that will be done this afternoon, over the internet, while the children sleep.

Dobby calls us to the table and we take a seat outside. Sirius transfigures something into a big, solid cushion, which he fixes on the bench. Their eating habits look better every day now, it's really a pleasure to watch. Right after lunch Sirius and I take them to bed. They will sleep for about two hours. Justin bids us farewell to go to his shift. Once the twins sleep we order Addie to keep a bit of a quiet time for herself, too. She decides to pick up a book to read. I sit myself at the computer and rifle through all the hotels in Vienna I can find which I like, then I want to book one that still has free rooms. I'm getting a room for the three children and one for Sirius and myself. I'm still typing in my address and other details when Harry comes in.

"I've heard you've arrived! It's great to have you here again, Remus!"

"Hi, Harry. And hello, my little Nevin! Wow, he's a big one already!"

"He is. Growing like mad. Must be his mum's milk or something, but there are days I think I can just see how he's grown. - What are you doing?"

"We have a Hogwarts letter to dispatch to an Austrian Muggle-born child. So we'll have to go to Vienna, because naturally Minerva thought I will have to visit her. Mind you, she's taking over about six kids in the UK, so I'm not complaining at all. We decided to spend a couple of days in Vienna. They have rooms left at the hotel, want to come along?"

"Oh, that would be lovely! Let me call Hermione and see if she's okay with a little trip!"

Harry lets me hold the baby, then runs out and comes back with Hermione.

"Hi Remus! I already said hello to Sirius. Twins asleep?"

"Hello, sweetheart! Yes, they're sleeping and we sent Addie to relax for a while. She went up to her room to read."

"Good. Nevin is going to sleep as well now. I wanted him to sleep in his own bed, he takes a much better nap than outside with all the noise. I'll be back in a moment!"

Hermione takes her son from me and is out of the house for the next fifteen minutes. When she comes back, Harry and I have exchanged most of the news. Sirius joins us with her. 

"So, what was that about Vienna?"

"We're going there for a few days on Monday. Up to Thursday or Friday I'd say," I explain.

"That would be lovely. Never been there before..."

"Well, then why don't I book the train and hotel for the three of you as well?"

"Should we, Harry? I'd love to..."

"Yes, love, I'd say we should. We'll have Nevin in our room..." Harry says.

"Let me rather call them than do it over the net then..."

I break off the online booking, call the hotel and book the best rooms we can get. I get three rooms, one for the children and one for each of the couples. The rooms are all next to each other, so Hermione thinks it a good idea to put Nevin together with Addie and the twins. We'll take a Muggle baby monitor along and that should be fine to watch over little Nevin. After that I book the train. 

"We can take a night train on Sunday night and then book the sleeping compartments," I suggest.

"Perfect! Then we won't be so tired from the trip," Hermione comments.

"Good. Someone can drive us to the station in Bern and we'll take the train from there."

The twins take a nice long nap. Even only two hours in the sun have made them sleepy. Sirius and I enjoy a lovely conversation with Harry, Hermione, James and Lily. Just before four o'clock Hermione hears Nevin calling for her. She rushes over to her house and brings the baby back to our garden, where she nurses him on a blanket under one of the trees. We sit around, watch the little one hungrily fill his belly and wait for the twins to call for us. It's one of those moments again that I just want to burn into my brain, a moment of utter bliss. I lean myself back on my lover's chest. Sirius kisses me tenderly from behind. We sit on blankets under the apple trees and there's not the slightest noise apart from the insects swarming around. 

"I love you, sweetheart," Sirius whispers.

"I love you, too!"

He takes me in his arms and I happily feel his heartbeat. Sirius has started to calm down. It's great to feel him this way. James and Lily tease us all over the place for our cuddling.

Nevin has finished his meal and is allowed to lie on the blanket on the grass. Then I hear one of our twins, probably Denny, calling for Sirius and myself. Sirius kisses me, lets me go and gets up.

"I'll go!" he says.

A few minutes later he's back with the twins, both blissfully naked, and Dobby brings their afternoon snack. Sirius also brings the sunscreen, which we use liberally on the bodies of our little ones. Addie turns up again as well. She's only wearing a bathing suit and quickly gets covered with sunscreen as well. I braid her hair so it won't get in her way. 

..

..

**Sirius**

..

After dinner we cuddle with the children until they go to sleep. Addie returns to her book and wishes us a good night, too. Remus and I go down again and decide to go for a walk. Some of the gang are in the living room, so we ask if they would have an ear out for the twins, just in case.

"Will do, Sirius!" Parvati promises.

"Thanks. We'd just like to go for a little walk."

We head outside. It's a wonderful evening, still not quite dark and we take each others' hands as we stroll along the small road until we reach an even smaller path without asphalt, which we follow into the forest. Ever so often we take the time to stop and kiss. Remus' eyes are so bright and beautiful, I really just want to kiss him forever! We're going to be in for a loving night tonight! 

The promises we've secretly made for that are fulfilled as soon as we're back in the house. We wish everyone a good night and start our summer vacation for good.

..

..

**Sunday, 25.6.2000 / Hermione**

..

Morag is driving us down to Bern. Our train leaves at eight in the evening. We will have to change trains in Zürich, but from then on our little ones will be allowed to sleep. The first bit of the ride is a bit tough. Nevin sleeps quite nicely, but the twins are up and they're both cranky and clingy. Remus sits next to Sirius and both of them have one of the twins on their laps. Addie sits on the other side of them and we sit on the single seats on the other side of the aisle from them. Nevin is in the carrier, which we have put on the seat next to Addie. She's tired, too, but she does stick to reading her book or colouring some pictures. To draw something of her own she's simply too tired. 

Once we reach Zürich we have to find the compartments. There's a steward who unlocks our compartments and we warn him that one of them will be for the children only.

"Will they be disturbed when we cross the border?"

"Well, the officials might want to look inside, but they will be very careful if they know that there are only children inside."

"Okay. Just see that you wake us before they go in, okay?" Sirius asks.

"That's fine with me and I've made the mental note, Sir."

"Thank you very much."

Addie is excited to be allowed the top bunk, even though there isn't much space there. She climbs up and even manages to undress and put on a thin nightie. Then she asks for her book, which Remus gives her and settles down to read. Remus and Sirius stay to get the twins to sleep on the lowest bed. They have received a small railing, which can be fixed along the side of the bed so they can't fall out of it. Harry and I leave them to it and take hold of our own compartment. I magically enlarge the travelling cot for Nevin and place it on the free spot next to my bed. Within a few minutes he's asleep again. Harry doesn't want the middle bed to be let down, so we have a bit more space, though that only above us. He plans to share the small bunk bed with me. That's going to be a tight squeeze! But it's not even so bad after all and we can make ourselves comfortable.

..

..

**Monday, 26.6.2000 / Remus**

..

Sirius and I get our little ones to sleep. It has taken quite a while, but both of them are now in a slightly charmed sleep. We set up the railing together, then we kiss Addie goodnight and tell her to turn off the light soon.

"Do you want us to leave this little light on, love?" I ask and point to a small light above the door.

"Yes, please."

"Very well. Sleep well, sweetheart!"

We finally find our own cabin next door and pull the door closed. We have asked the steward to only make two beds, the top and the bottom one, but we intend to use only one. Sirius casually makes it a little bit wider, we undress and go to sleep, leaving only the tiny lamp above the door. I awake several times during the night, but we don't get controlled at the border. Amazingly. When I awake for good it's already light outside. I turn to my lover and kiss him awake. We have not heard anything from our children throughout the night. Sirius kisses me back slowly. 

"Hey!" I whisper.

"Good morning, love! You just made me randy!"

"The door's on 'do not disturb', remember?" I ask.

He grins. We have a bit of time for a bit of lovemaking before we have to get up and set the bed right. Our timing is perfect, as there's a knock just shortly after we've reset the sign on the door. We're dressed and ready for the day. I get up and go next door to see if our little ones are still asleep. Seraina is awake as usual. She stretches out her little arms and I lift her from the bed.

"Good morning, my little one," I whisper. 

"Good mowning, papa!" she replies.

"Come, we go over to our room, so Denny and Addie can sleep in a little longer..."

I take her to our cabin which the steward has just returned to its former state, so three people have space next to each other. I take Seraina on my lap and carefully brush her hair. It's grown out lately and has reached her shoulder. I make a little braid out of it and fix it. She's still a bit clingy. The night has been too short for her to be a good rest, she's missed about three hours of sleep, so I suppose she'll be ready to go for a short nap later in the morning. 

We're due to arrive in Vienna shortly before noon. We take two taxis to go to the hotel. As soon as I have unpacked I put the letter into my pocket and we go out for lunch. The clerk at the reception happily gives us some recommendations for some good restaurants. Sirius will take the children back to the hotel and I take Addie along to visit Antonia. Addie is totally excited to be let in on such a trip. We call a taxi and I show the driver the address.

"Oh, but this is far outside of the town... that will be expensive!"

"Can we fix a price then? I don't know Vienna at all, I'm afraid."

"Well, we can discuss it, yes."

We negotiate the price and he's getting us there. Addie stares out of the window to not miss anything. When he stops in one of the suburbs in front of a nice house with a front garden and probably a larger backyard I pay the driver and send him away. Then I brace myself and take the letter from my pocket, smooth it magically and take Addie by her hand. I walk up to the garden door, which is open, so we go inside and ring the bell. It takes a while, but then the door opens and a lovely blond girl looks up at us. 

"Hello! My name is Remus Lupin, this little lady is Adara Black, and I'd like to speak to Miss Antonia Heller and maybe her parents..."

"Hi. I'm Toni. Would you mind if I call my Mama?"

"Not at all, I shall gladly wait here."

"Okay, I'll be right back..."

A short while later a nice looking woman comes to the door. She has a toddler on her hip and asks:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lupin, what can I do for you?"

"Good afternoon, Mrs Heller. May we come in? I have something for your daughter Antonia... or is that Toni? But it is something we will need to discuss together..."

"Okay, do come in. I need to put my little son Florian to bed, he needs to take his nap, so can I show you the way to the back garden and I'll be with you in a moment?"

"Of course. I have two year old twins, I know what you're about. Maybe I could give your daughter a letter in the meantime?"

"A letter? Sure. Toni, why don't you show them the terrace?"

"Okay..."

Toni looks like an alert kid. She shows us through the house to a nice deck, covered with a sun shield and asks:

"Would you like something to drink?"

"If you have some mineral water?"

"Sure."

Five minutes later she's back with a big bottle of Coke and some glasses.

"That okay?" she asks.

"Perfect," I reply. 

Then I'm filling glasses for everyone and tell her to take a seat. I hand her the letter. Addie almost explodes of excitement. I hold her back from blurting out things too early. Toni looks at the letter, reads her address, looks up at me and asks:

"How do you know where my room is?"

"I'll explain everything once you've seen the letter, Toni, just read it first, okay?"

Addie gives me a little shove and grins. Toni turns the letter around and sees the seal, which doesn't mean anything to her, but she goes ahead and opens the letter. There are three sheets inside, the first containing the letter, the second the list of books and equipment and the third is the prepared answering letter of acceptance or rejection. 

"But that's in English," Toni calls out, a bit disturbed, because she only understands German and not much English yet.

"Oh, I'm sorry, can you just quickly pass it to me? I'll change that immediately!" 

She hands the letter over to me, I quickly cast a translation spell and the writing on the parchment immediately becomes German. I pass it back to her and ask: "Better now?"

She beams.

"Yes, I can read it now. How did you do that? It's almost like magic!"

Addie bursts out laughing. She can't hold back anymore now.

"It IS magic, silly!" she calls.

"Ssssh!" I tell her, but Toni already gives her a strange look.

"Just read it, Toni," I tell her. She does, starts again and reads.

"Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? What's that? This is a hoax, isn't it?"

"No, this is not a hoax. Go on, read the rest."

"Dear Miss Heller, we are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July. Yours sincerely, Remus J. Lupin, Deputy Headmaster. - Wow! That really does sound like a hell of a good joke!"

"Again, I'm telling you, that it's no joke. But since you are born of a non-magical family you would not know that all the strange things that happened to you and around you were actually accidental magic. You, dear girl, are a witch."

"A **witch**? But there **are** no witches and wizards, are there? I mean, they always tell us stories, but they also tell us that they are made up..." Toni stutters.

"Well, that is mostly because we real magical folk hide our magic from the Muggles, the non-magical people, you see. But all over the world there are still lots of us around. And to learn to use and control that magic inside of you, you should come to school."

Mrs Heller returns now. She takes a seat and smiles.

"So. What is it that you want from or for my daughter, Mr. Lupin?"

She still remembers my name perfectly well. Obviously an alert person as well. Toni shows her the letter and says:

"Mama, that letter he gave me was written in English, then he turned it into German. And then I learned that I am a witch! Can you believe it? He's from this school, look!"

Mrs Heller looks confused, but takes hold of the letter to read it. She gives a little cry and looks at me in shock.

"What do you mean my daughter is a witch? I thought there was nothing like that... I mean I got all angry learning about witch burnings in history and the like, because they practically only killed innocent victims and all. Do you mean to tell me they really were witches?"

I grin.

"Well, sadly the ones caught were almost all Muggles. Which is our term for non-magical people. If ever they did catch a real witch she would probably have cast a flame freezing charm and then felt nothing of the fire. We tame fire pretty well and use it to travel, you know. This young lady here, Addie, she's my foster daughter, she's a witch, too, probably only a few months younger than you are, Toni, and she'll start Hogwarts in a year. She can hardly wait!"

"So you are really a wizard! And my daughter is a witch. But... how do you know?"

"We have ways to learn. That is very, very old magic, which started when the school was founded, roughly some one thousand years ago. The Founders created a book and an enchanted quill, and both register the birth of every magical child in Britain eligible to come to Hogwarts. Almost every year we also get a list of students from abroad through our Ministry of Magic. Antonia has been pointed out to us through your local Ministry of Magic. As you don't have a school like ours in Austria they sent the request to Hogwarts. It doesn't occur very often that we get Muggle-born children from abroad."

"Oh. And where is this school?" Toni asks.

"It's in Scotland. You will learn English within a week, because we will give you a potion that will enable you to learn the language fast. Addie learned German this way."

"And that was way funny! At first I only understood a few words, but the more I heard the more I understood. Just like that. And after about three days I was able to speak, too. That was even funnier."

"You have a funny accent! Will I have a funny accent, too?"

"She has that accent, because she learned Swiss German, you see. Most Swiss have that accent when they speak German. You will learn and speak a proper English," I explain, chuckling.

"Hang on. You say this is a school in Scotland. That means boarding school, doesn't it?" Mrs Heller asks.

"Yes. Right now it's closed for the summer vacation. They have eight to nine weeks of summer break, then there are two weeks between Christmas and New Year and a further week around Easter. Most children stay at Hogwarts for that one though."

"That's a tough decision. She wasn't meant to go to a boarding school, you see..."

"Mrs Heller, I need to explain a few things to you. Antonia is a magical child. The magic inside of her will always want out. If she doesn't learn to control and use that magic properly then it will do her a lot more harm than good. And it can mean harm to others around her. Did she make funny things happen when she was angry or scared?"

"You could say that. We always thought there must be some scientific explanation."

"We call that 'accidental' magic. Every magical child manifests that kind before they come to Hogwarts. Magical parents just know what to do then and what it means. Muggles will usually explain it away with some physical phenomenon..."

She starts to grin and says:

"That would be me - Physicist. I'm still on maternal leave for a few weeks. We have thought of a mild form of telekinesis or something. She is a very, very bright child. Always in the top two or three at school..."

"Bet she's going to be a Ravenclaw, Remus!" Addie pipes up.

"Ravenclaw?"

"That's the house where all the brainiacs go to," Addie explains.

"Hogwarts is separated into four houses, each of the four Founders had one of their own and the houses are named after them. Rowena Ravenclaw treasured intellect and thirst for knowledge. Students filling that bill in the first place are generally placed in this house," I explain a bit more thoroughly.

"What other houses are there?" asks Toni.

"Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin," Addie fills her in immediately.

I smile. Who knows, the two of them might become friends... then I take my time to explain all the practical stuff to Mrs Heller and she listens with interest. Finally she asks:

"Well, apart from what Toni told me about you changing the language in the letter I would like to have some proof that you are telling us the truth, Mr. Lupin. Forgive my insisting, but I'm not about to send my daughter away that far for school without being sure that you told me the truth about it..."

"That is perfectly fine with me, but since we should never perform magic in front of Muggles I would suggest that we go inside so I can demonstrate our powers."

"Okay."

We move inside of the house and I charm the windows to show nothing unusual. 

"Well, I can levitate things, first of all..." 

I pull my wand and show it to the Hellers. Toni stares at it in awe. Then I point at a book on a table and say:

"Wingardium Leviosa!" 

They watch as the book rises gently and follows my wand through the room. I banish it back to the table and turn the walls into a terribly ugly colour, only to have it returned to its original in the next moment. 

"Just like Merlin and Madam Mim! Can you turn yourself into an animal, too?" Toni asks, excitedly.

"Well, most witches and wizards actually can't, but I happen to be an Animagus, so I can. But unlike the Merlin and Madam Mim film I can't turn myself into different animals. I have yet to hear about anyone who could do that. Merlin, the real Merlin, I mean, his real name was Taliesyn by the way, he was an Animagus, too, and he turned into a white deer. But I'm a wolf."

"A wolf? Wow! That's mighty impressive, too! Can I see? Or are you a real wolf who will bite?"

I grin. "Actually, about nine out of ten wolves will run far, far away from any human long before they'd actually bite them. To answer your question: I'm a real wolf, but I don't bite. I do keep my human ability to think, though I can't speak human anymore, I can only bark and whine and so on. Wolves have quite a wide range of sounds."

I transform. Addie immediately scratches me behind my ears. She knows only too well, where I like it most, the little beast. She says:

"He's gorgeous, isn't he? I love him to bits. We call him Moony. Well, we also call Remus Moony. And my big brother, that's Remus' life partner, he's also an Animagus, and also a teacher at Hogwarts. He's this huuuge black dog. You could get scared when you see him, but Padfoot never hurts anyone. He's too cute for that."

Before she blubbers out more I transform back. Mrs Heller looks at me again and says:

"I don't know what to say. I would never, ever have dreamed up anything like this. Would you mind if I call my husband in, so we can discuss the further procedure together? I suppose I'll have to make a trip to London to get her things and all?"

"Well, except for the school robes, which should be fitted to her size you could probably get things locally. I'll have to find out for you where the wizarding district here in Vienna is, I have never been here before, so I don't know. I've brought my family along for the ride, they're at the hotel right now and I should contact them shortly, that we're still around. I expect the twins to wake up now."

"Well, do not hesitate to call them, Mr. Lupin. They shouldn't worry."

I dig for my Commumirror and call Sirius. He takes the call immediately and I tell him:

"I'm still at the Hellers' place, Sirius. It's going to take a while, so don't count on us for dinner with you guys."

"That's okay. As long as I know you're fine, love."

"We are. I think, Addie's making a friend. They've just vanished, I suppose, Toni wants to show Addie her room."

"How cute! You know how important it is for Addie to make friends..."

"Yeah, I do."

Out of the corner of my eyes I see Mrs Heller trying to get my attention.

"Why don't you invite them here for dinner? I'll make something simple, like spaghetti..."

"Really? There's my lover, our godson and his wife and three small children, you know..."

"Never mind. Look around, we have enough space. My husband sometimes brings unexpected guests from his office, so we're prepared."

"Okay. Did you hear that, Sirius? Note down the address..."

I quickly scribble the address on the mirror and Sirius takes it down. 

"Got it."

"It's far out, fix a price with your taxi driver. I did that and he got me here just fine."

"Okay. See you later then. Thank you, Mrs Heller!"

"You're welcome, sir."

"That's really very kind of you, Mrs Heller. I might be of some assistance in speeding up the kitchen work with this little toy here..."

I nod for the wand and she asks:

"Really? Can you cook with it?"

"Basically I can do almost anything with it. It's a toy, a tool, a weapon and every magical person's innermost identity. You don't just go out and buy a wand, you are chosen by **your** wand. The one that's out there waiting for you. It doesn't mean that there is just one single wand out there that fits, but the first time a witch or wizard gets into physical contact with the wand meant for them it responds with sparks."

"You know, I'm working with a very exact science, that's all very fascinating for me, because with this magic you are basically turning physical laws completely upside down and I've got some problems with that!"

"I can imagine that this is hard to understand. Which is why you looked for this scientific explanation for your daughter's escapades."

"Yes, I suppose that's so. Anyway, let's see... we need to get the dining table large enough to accommodate six adults and six children..."

"My godson's child is still a baby, but I can transfigure anything into a suitable high chair."

She leads me into the dining room, which looks very modern and elegant, but also very formal.

"We don't always eat here, but as my husband has lots of business contacts that need to be taken care of out of business hours as well we often entertain. Well, all it takes is to put one plate inside to prolong the table."

"Do you have it close?" I wonder.

"It's in the table..."

A wink with the wand and the table's size is adjusted. Mrs Heller grins and says:

"I'm beginning to really like your means of work, Mr. Lupin."

Once she's made sure that everything is already set she guides me back to the terrace, where we sit down and have a very nice conversation. She asks me about Addie.

"You said she's your foster daughter?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated. I'm one of her two guardians. The other is her brother, who is more than just a few years older than she is... twenty-nine years, to be precise. Their father died last year and left her all alone. It's an incredible story, and I'm quite sure you wouldn't believe the half of it, if you knew it, but Adara has been kept isolated all of her life. Sirius, that's my life partner and her brother, never even knew he had a little sister. When we finally found her, she had been an orphan for a few months. Only kept alive by a mad old house-elf. She's started to live when she turned ten! You wouldn't believe it, when you see her now, would you?"

"She looked like a very normal ten year old to me..."

"She does now. But we couldn't have sent her to the regular primary school last year. Not only because she was behind in some subjects, but because she would have been terrified of all the children and probably ridiculed. She didn't have any kind of concept of abstract things. So we got her a really good private teacher. Lily went to school with Sirius and I, we were all in the same year and in the same house, Gryffindor. She's done a great job with Addie, because now the girl can't wait to spend her last year of primary school at school."

"Will that be a boarding school, too? I mean, if you and your partner are at Hogwarts..."

"We're all living there. Next to the Hogwarts grounds is Hogsmeade, that's the only settlement in all of Britain that's inhabited by only magical folk. That's where the school is and she'll be able to floo in every day. Takes her about a minute from our living room to school," I explain.

"What do you mean by 'floo'?"

For the next hour or so I have to explain a lot to her and she sucks it all up. Then her little son wakes up. Mrs Heller goes and takes the little one up. He's not a happy camper on this day and gives his mother quite a hard time. She tries to interest him in something to play. He cries. 

"Oh dear! What can I do to make you happier, my son?" she sighs.

She gets up and says:

"It's been awfully quiet, let's go and see what the girls do, what do you think?"

She shows me the way to Toni's room. We knock, before we enter. Both girls are sitting on Toni's bed and seem to have found a lot to talk about. 

"Are you two okay?" I ask.

"We're perfectly fine, thank you," Toni replies with a grin. 

I just throw a glance at Addie and notice she looks really content and wink at her.

"That's fine then. We'll call you over for dinner. I expect by that time Addie will have filled your ears about most of the wizarding stuff you want to know..."

"Mama, she said, she'd send me a few things - with an **owl**!"

"An owl? Now that's an original messenger."

"She would have received her Hogwarts letter with an owl, if she wasn't Muggle-born," Addie pipes up.

"Oh. We leave you to it then."

We return to our former place. The little one seems to have cooled down a bit and is now ready to tackle a few of his toys. Mrs Heller grins and explains:

"He's got that sometimes - only in the afternoon, but he usually does need about half an hour to get comfortable. Now - I just want to make sure that my husband doesn't bring home any unexpected visitors."

She picks up the phone and calls her husband.

"Hi darling, I'm just calling to ask when you get home? - Normal time? Great. We have some guests. - No, you don't know them. They've come to give something to Toni and Toni consequently made a new friend, because one of the visitors is a girl her own age. So you'll see when you get home. Six it is then. Fine, see you then!"

Half an hour later the doorbell rings and Mrs Heller goes to see who it is. It's my bunch. She welcomes them and leads them to the terrace. I'm getting up. Sirius and Harry carry the twins, Hermione has Nevin on her arm. 

"Thank you very much for this spontaneous invitation, Mrs Heller. I hope, we really aren't a bother," Sirius remarks politely.

"No bother at all. I'll make spaghetti, how much simpler can you get. Just drop in three times the regular amount and you feed a small army," Mrs Heller replies with a grin.

"Let me do the introductions then," I offer and point out Sirius. "That's Sirius Black, my life partner, Addie's big brother. These are Hermione and Harry Potter. Harry's our godson, therefore we regard Hermione as one of our daughters... and the little ones are my daughter Seraina, Sirius' son Denny, who are sort of twins, because they share their birth mother and of course their birthday, and the baby is Nevin, Harry and Hermione's son."

"I'm very pleased to meet you. So, I heard you will be one of my daughter's future teachers, Mr. Black?"

"Yes, though in the far future. I teach fifth through seventh years in Transfiguration. In this subject she'll have a very wonderful young teacher named Penelope Clearwater in her first four years."

"Oh, so you differ between lower and more advanced classes? Why don't you all take a seat? Can I offer you some sort of an aperitif?"

"That would be most kind, Mrs Heller, though mine shouldn't contain alcohol as I'm still nursing," says Hermione.

"Very well, we have lots of soft drinks or fruit juices here..."

"That would be perfect, thank you very much."

"You are most welcome. I have to say it was an incredible surprise to learn this about my daughter, but now I'm really most curious about it all."

"I can really feel with you. My parents are Muggles, too. They've probably been just as fascinated. They still are quite in awe about our talents."

Once we're all seated the children are let loose and find lots to play. Florian is nearly two years old and therefore they play together at times. Since they're so small there's no real playing going on. They come running to either of us again and again. Mrs Heller serves some local white wine and some crisps. 

"It's nice to know you people, please call me Marlies," Mrs Heller offers, while we clink the glasses.

"I like that. Call me Sirius!" Sirius replies and Harry, Hermione and I follow immediately.

"So you two are magical people, too?" Marlies asks Harry and Hermione.

"Yes, we are. Harry and I met on the first train ride to Hogwarts and made friends not much later. We've been best friends ever since and got married two years ago."

"How sweet!"

"Hogwarts is regarded as the main marriage market in the British wizarding world," Sirius jokes.

"Are there other magical schools?"

"There are a number of other schools, but not in the UK. Most wizarding children visit either the Hogsmeade primary school or regular Muggle schools or get taught at home before they come to Hogwarts. Every year we also have a number of children from other countries. There are Beauxbatons in France and Durmstrang in Norway. There's also a fairly small school in the Black Forest, but they are extremely restrictive in taking students," I explain. "And then there are a couple of schools in the Americas, some in Australia and an ancient one in Damascus, which mostly aims at the Arabic world. Apart from the Damascus school Hogwarts is the oldest. We go back one thousand years. Hogwarts was founded in 938 by Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff. As you heard before the houses were named after the four founders. The main reason for that is that the founders praised different qualities in the students they wanted to teach."

"And how do you spread the children over the houses?"

"Each year there's the Sorting Ceremony, an important rite at Hogwarts. The new students are called up and are topped with a hat that was enchanted by the four founders. In other words, this thing is over one thousand years old. It contains a bit of the brains from all four founders and is kind of a thinking cap. It looks into the heads - and hearts! - of all the children and tells them which house they belong to. If the child shows bravery above all else it will probably go to Gryffindor, as this was what he looked for. If it is a rather sly and ambitious person the Hat will send it to Slytherin. If there's a whole lot of loyalty and readiness for hard work in the student it will be placed in Hufflepuff and finally if the student to sort shows exceptional intellectual talent and eagerness to charge the books they will most probably find themselves in Ravenclaw."

"That sounds quite exciting. I bet it's quite impressive."

"It's so impressive that I thought I'd never survive it!" Harry exclaims, "My parents were both magical, but they were murdered when I was only a year old. I was placed in the care of my only living relatives, my mother's sister and her husband, who are both Muggles. And unfortunately Muggles who are very much against anything having to do with magic. It was a forbidden word in their household and I wasn't even allowed to read comics for fear I could get 'funny ideas'. So I had not the slightest idea about the wizarding world when I was finally introduced to it. The result was that I was so scared when I noticed that there would be such a sorting. I thought the worst was really to have to do this in front of the assembled school, all the other students and the teachers! I didn't have a very nice childhood, so I had horror visions about not being sorted at all and being sent home again immediately. Then the Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I hadn't liked the look of those kids there, so I thought 'not Slytherin!' and the Hat put me into Gryffindor. It was all very scary for me."

"Quite a story! Is it always so near traumatic?" Marlies asks.

"Not really. Harry may have experienced a more traumatic Sorting than others. He knew practically nothing about the wizarding world. But because he was from wizarding parents no one thought to send the usual informant to him, like I'm doing for Toni, who would have explained most and answered his questions. But many more children have reasons to fear the Sorting Hat's decision for some reason," I say.

"I did in any case. Not to scare you, but Slytherin has been the house for the rather dubious and also darker wizarding characters and only very, very rarely did anyone in my family get sorted into another house than Slytherin. I started school in the same year as a cousin of mine, who was promptly sorted into Slytherin, but I didn't want to go there. But my case also shows that the Hat accepts choices - if they fit. In my case I thought at the Hat to get it over with and put me into the snake house already. Serpents are the symbolic animals of Slytherin House. And the Hat immediately told me it wouldn't sort me into a house I obviously neither belonged to nor wanted to go to. And sent me to Gryffindor."

"That's three of you in Gryffindor already. And you, Hermione?"

Hermione grins.

"The Hat considered my love for knowledge and books for about ten seconds, then decided there was even more courage and sent me to Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw. I would have done well in Ravenclaw, but I had read a lot about Hogwarts in the weeks before I went to school and had already picked Gryffindor as my preferred house. It took a few weeks of being rather unpopular, then I made friends with Harry and another boy and from then on I felt warm and welcome."

We're still discussing when the door opens and Mr. Heller comes into the family room. He looks around quite astonished for a moment, but Marlies gets up at once and introduces us.

"Hello, Martin! Come and take a seat, so I can introduce you to the round: this is Professor Remus Lupin, his life partner Professor Sirius Black, then here is Mrs Hermione Potter and this is her husband Harry. The little ones on the floor are Seraina and Denny, and the baby is Nevin, he's the Potters' son. And over in Toni's room is Sirius' little sister Adara, who is a few months younger than Toni. Professor Lupin came this afternoon with a very strange letter, which is actually the invitation for Toni to visit a very special boarding school. It turned out that our daughter is a witch, Martin!"

Mr. Heller looks absolutely shocked.

"A **witch**! You can't be serious..." he stutters.

"Dead serious even, it's really no hoax. I've seen Professor Lupin do quite a bit of magic and stuff that will take your breath away. Toni can learn all that if she goes to that school, Martin."

"You'll have to explain that in great detail to me, gentlemen, because it sounds too fantastic to believe, to be quite honest," says Mr. Heller.

"You do that, Remus, while I take leave to the kitchen. I call the girls and send them to you on the way."

"We'd love to, Marlies, thanks for doing the work in the kitchen!" Sirius says and turns to Mr. Heller.

"Mr. Heller, we know it sounds fantastic. It's nevertheless true and we can prove it to you easily. To make it easier to believe, I'm sure you remember incidents when your daughter made some strange things happen or did some very strange things herself..."

"Now that you mention it - there were quite a few such incidents. Once she prevented a full plate of some food from dropping on the floor. It sailed onto the table, when it was almost falling down. Then there was the time when she got out of her cot even though she wouldn't climb over the rail... things like that. We thought it might be proof that telekinesis exists..."

"We call the first bit levitation. The second stunt is an accidental form of apparition. Not something she'll consciously learn to do before she turns seventeen," I explain.

"So you're making me very curious! Can I see some of that magic?"

"Sure. Just let me illusion charm the window - just in case someone can look inside here..." Harry says and waves his wand.

Then we demonstrate a few spells and Harry and Hermione transform. Mr. Heller looks at them and shakes his head.

"Now that's an incredible stunt! Wow! And my daughter will learn all that?"

"Well, the last bit is the Animagus transformation, that's only taught to students who have done exceptionally well in their Transfiguration OWL exam. These exams take place at the end of fifth year and are quite important. Students aren't required to go on with their studies after the OWLS are passed, but only few students decide to leave the school. Sirius has taken up teaching this art to those sixth years who have received a grade of at least 80% or an E for Exceeds Expectation, which is the second best grade they can get. Last year he trained quite a handful of students. The art has almost died out, but he's learned it in his fifth year, illegally back then, and since he's been registered properly and has started to teach Transfiguration at Hogwarts he has made it more popular again."

"This sounds like there's a story behind your becoming such a... what have you called it? Animagus?"

"Yes, that's right. There were three of us. We had our reasons to do it. We knew we would never be allowed to learn, our teachers would all cry out that we were too young and knew too little, so collecting all the necessary information under the teachers' noses took us quite a long time. Harry's dad James was along for the ride and we had a third friend who became an Animagus, too."

The girls have come in just as Sirius starts to tell his story. Addie grins and nudges Toni.

"Now there's a good story!"

Sirius tells the Hellers the story, which takes a while. Toni hangs on Sirius' lips. I can hear her whisper to Addie:

"Wow, you never told me that your brother is such a good looking guy!" 

I grin. Well, he's quite the treat for the eye, my lover! Getting all that good food at Hogwarts and elsewhere, looking after the children and teaching has returned him to his former physical beauty, even if there are lines on his face and scars on his body that will never vanish completely. In my own eyes they only make him more beautiful. He's finally grown up completely and that can be seen in his countenance, his air, the whole personality has become mature now. He's gone through so much that has forced him to mature quickly. He didn't gain much in terms of experiences at Azkaban, but the place has not only harmed him. It has steeled him in a way that life outside of his cell could never have steeled him. He's never been this strong before. I look at him while he regales a few of the things we've allowed ourselves at the school.

"Moony here has always been the good one. He tried to be our voice of reason most of the time, but just as often he was ready to leave it all behind and help with the plans as well as the execution. Interestingly enough it was always on these occasions we were the most successful with our pranks. No wonder it was him who got the prefect's badge in fifth year."

Everyone in the round laughs. Mr. Heller seems to warm up to the idea that his daughter would be spending a good part of the year away from home from now on. Hermione gives him a few bits of her own experience of being a Muggle-born student starting at Hogwarts. She turns to Toni:

"You'll already meet many students on the train. Don't hesitate to sit with other first years and talk to them! Once you're sorted into your house you'll quickly learn that you are together with other children of the same frame of mind as yourself and that usually gives you a good grounding to forge friendships. It's not forbidden at all to make friends in other houses, too. You will share classes with other houses, so you get to know the other students well over the years. You're rotating the mixtures every year now, don't you, Remus?"

"Yes, we do. This year it will be Gryffindor and Hufflepuff together and Slytherin and Ravenclaw. We've made quite a good experience with this method these past two years. Before you'd have the occasional class mixed, but some classes were taught to only one house. We've just become too overwhelmed with work, so it was changed to having two teachers for the core subjects and all classes are taught with two houses together. To give the students the possibility to learn to know all other students in the same year we rotate. That means that you are together with all other houses at least twice, three times with one other house."

"That makes sense. How many students do you usually have per year?" Mr. Heller asks.

"Between about 45 and 65. It really varies very much. Our year for example wasn't a very strong year, neither was the one Harry and Hermione were a part of, but the last two years we really had large groups. This year there will be 68 first years."

"More than fourteen to a house then. That's quite large classes..."

"Yes, but that doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. Most of the pupils at Hogwarts get along very well."

"Where is this school, did you say?"

"In Scotland."

"But that means that Toni will have to learn English until the beginning of September. I don't think that's possible..."

Sirius, Harry, Hermione and I grin widely. Heller looks at us and understands.

"Don't say anything... let me guess... magic?"

We all laugh. Well spotted, Sir!

"Yes. There's a potion, it's called Polyglot potion. I suggest you take a week's worth of vacation and join us in London, where we will give her the potion, which teaches her English within a few days. We have a large townhouse in London, you'd be welcome to stay with us. It's quite in the center of the town as well. You can take your time for her shopping and she can get used to the language. All other foreign children are coming to Hogwarts either through the wishes of their parents or know about the potion, so they will look out for that themselves."

After a few more logistical problems Mr. Heller asks me:

"Your twins are really cute! Did you adopt them? They look so much like you it's cunning. I'm just asking because you're telling me you and Mr. Black are a couple..."

"Well... there's just a bit of magic in there. The twins share their birth mother, but Denny is really Sirius' son and Seraina is my daughter. It was done with a very regular artificial insemination, not in vitro, just a regular one. But - there's a spell that forces the ovulation and it can be done twice to conceive twins. Which is what we did. Then there's another spell that overrules the mother's dominant traits, so the children get almost only their fathers' traits. Which in our twins' case made them look like us very strongly. Otherwise the whole pregnancy and birth works just like with every regular Muggle or magical person. Obviously we got a surrogate mother for them."

"Ah, I understand. It seems to me that you are both very active parents."

"We try to be. We both love them very much and even though we can't be married we regard both children as ours. Just like Addie is much more of a daughter to us than Sirius' sister. And while she does call us with our first or nicknames, she also looks at us as her fathers."

There is much we discuss during the meal, after which Florian is put to bed and ours find some rest on a nest of blankets until we leave. The Hellers call two taxis for us and while we wait for those Toni and Addie promise to write to each other. 

"Even though I have to wait for another year to start at Hogwarts we can still see each other, can't we, Siri?" Addie promises.

"Sure, Addie. But you have to let Toni make friends in her own year as well, remember!"

"I know. I will, too! There's already Natasha and Stacey. I really hope I'm in the same house with at least one of them."

"That's another year though..."

When the taxi arrives we take leave from this very nice family. We've fixed the last week of August to host them at Grimmauld Place from where we'll take Toni to King's Cross station and the school train. Mr. Heller has signed the acceptance form and now Toni is dancing and can hardly wait. 

"She'll make us crazy until we can leave..." Marlies moans.

"We're having that for another year with Addie," I reply. "Anyway, you can owl us your date and time of arrival and we come and get you from the airport."

"That's fine. Provided we can get an owl..."

"Addie will write to Toni, just make sure that you catch her owl or tell Toni to include it in one of her replies."

"Very well! We'll see you all soon then!"

Harry, Hermione, Addie and Nevin sit in one of the Taxis, Sirius, the twins and I find space in the other, then we're returning to our hotel. It's late, but the children are sleeping and we can carry them up to their room without any problem. I can change Seraina while she sleeps, put her into her pyjama and then lay her into the bed and cover her up. Denny wakes up for a moment, but as soon as Sirius packs him into the blankets on the bed he yawns and falls asleep again. Sirius and I tiptoe from the room and kiss Addie goodnight. She climbs into her bed and turns off the light. 

We go to bed as well. It's been a very tiring day, even though we haven't done much. But we have plans to do some sightseeing tomorrow and I want to try and find the wizarding part of Vienna before we leave. Hermione has an idea where it is, but then she's probably read up all about Vienna in the past few days. 

..

..

**Tuesday, 27.6.2000 / Sirius**

..

As soon as we sit down at breakfast Addie starts to write a note to Toni. Remus and I grin. It seems that the two girls really like each other. We expect to see little Toni at our flat once or twice during the next school year. I remind her that our owls are all at home and that she'll have to send that letter with Muggle post still. She nods. Slowly she does get more and more familiar with the Muggles. She feels no contempt about them. Once she's been shown that they are people just like we are she didn't think they were worth any less. To be honest I could wring my father's neck every day and at least three times thinking of what he did to my sweet little sister. Addie is such a wonderful little lady and I really love her to bits. 

We spend the day exploring the center of Vienna with that overabundance of beautiful architecture and since there's a short rain shower we also step inside of one of the many museums.

..

..

**Thursday, 29.6.2000 / Harry**

..

The last two days have passed in a flurry of wonderful impressions of a beautiful old city. We've been to see a number of old houses and even found the wizarding sector. We've seen some of the many churches and have passed an evening at a concert. It's been great! 

Nevin is quite a good boy, but he seems to start with his teeth and so he's crying a lot, is sometimes feverish and sleeps little. Hermione doesn't always pick him up to nurse him, but there are times when we can only get him to rest this way. It's rather tiring and we're really quite glad that we still have two months of vacation left. It should make things a lot easier to take in.

We return to the Sunnegg tonight with a Portkey. That makes the journey sweet and short. The children are off to bed and we can tell our Viennese adventures to the rest of the people who are around. It looks like we're branching out and leaving the nest, at least those of us who are already working. Ron and Justin are thinking about taking a flat somewhere in London. Their training ends next month with a final examination, but they aren't afraid of that. They know they will pass. And that means they will earn quite a substantial salary which makes them truly independent. Neville spends a lot of time with Harriet who lives in Brighton. And Mandy is moving out for good now, to get together with Jason. I think that they will probably provide the next wedding! 

Of course the Sunnegg will remain to be one of the gathering points. But we all know we're welcome in France with Parvati and Draco. We're just as welcome in Kent with Jason and Mandy. It's great to have this magical freedom of quick travel! We'll always just be able to fix a meeting no matter that we're spread over several countries and hundreds of miles apart. All of our friends are just a Commumirror call away. 

Right now we expect our former Gryffindor classmates. Seamus and Lavender have now been together for a while and seem to stick to each other. Dean's got a girlfriend from Hufflepuff, a year younger than us. We're catching up at a nice dinner. Parvati and Draco have also come in for it, because Parvati and Lavender are still very good friends. 

The ones who will stick to live in the house are Morag, Ernie, Ginny, Blaise and Padma. All of them are studying at the Academy and for them the house with the Hogwarts library at their disposal and the quiet atmosphere is ideal. Plus they don't have to worry about more than pocket money as Remus and Sirius are letting us have Dobby who takes care of all the needs we have! Hermione and I are mostly in the house as well, even though we sleep over in the Stöckli.


	25. Holiday In Cornwall (part 1)

**Saturday, 15.7.2000 / Sirius**

We're packing up again, this time to go to Cornwall. Albus has his house somewhere on the coast near St. Ives. We're getting there taking our Portkey to Grimmauld Place and flooing from there to Albus' Mystique Hall. Albus receives us at his fireplace and welcomes us to his house. 

We've landed in a fairly nice entrance hall fireplace. Once we're all gathered and cleaned from the soot Albus calls his house-elf and shows us to our rooms. He's given Remus and I a nice room on the top floor with the view on the sea. Addie gets her own room right next to us on one side and the twins get theirs next to ours on the other side.

"Minerva has already arrived, too. She's down on my floor, as is Filius. You'll be all for yourselves up here," Albus informs us.

He shows us a smaller room that's furnished as a reading room. It has enough open space to make for a good playroom while the children are here. We take our time to unpack and make ourselves comfortable, then we all go downstairs to meet the rest of the party. Minerva greets us on the terrace. The house is about two miles away from the sea, but we can see it well, as it is built on a small knoll. 

"This is really the most beautiful season of the year around here. It's so nice and warm and I love the scent of all those flowers in the air," Albus explains.

I have to agree. The large garden is enclosed with a fence and a thick web of shrubs and bushes. The house itself is thickly covered in climbing roses. And they're still in bloom. Their scent is almost overwhelming for Remus, even for me, but they smell so sweetly!

Minerva and Filius are both out on the terrace, drinking tea and talking quietly. Addie dashes out of the house and runs up to Minerva to greet her. Minerva gives her a fairly strict look, which slows her down immediately, then she calmly puts the teacup back on the table and opens her arms to receive a hug from Addie. I look at Remus and we both grin. She may love children, but she's still got that look that makes them all behave.

"Hello, auntie Minerva!" Addie says.

"Hello, Adara! Did you have a nice vacation in Switzerland and Austria?"

Addie drops right into a lengthy description of her past weeks and tells her about Toni becoming her friend. Minerva looks at us.

"Have you made this a family outing? Hello, Sirius, Remus..."

We find some seats. Albus conjures more tea and dishes and starts pouring cups full. 

"Kind of. I went right after we arrived in Vienna, which was just before lunch. Once we had lunch, Sirius took the twins to the hotel. I took Addie along to visit Antonia. Who has a very interesting family. We got to talk and because Mrs Heller wanted to wait for her husband to come home she invited us all to dinner, so the two girls spent the whole afternoon together and became friends," Remus explains.

"I see. Well, that's good for you and for Antonia then, Addie, everyone needs friends. Even though you still have to wait to come to Hogwarts until next year."

"I know. But it's not that long anymore! And I'll be with Natasha and Stacey... besides we can still be friends."

"Of course you can. You'll make more friends as soon as you enter primary school."

"I hope so. But now it's still summer vacation!"

Minerva laughs.

"So what are your plans here?"

"Sirius and Remus say we can go and swim in the sea!"

"Yes, we'll go down to the beach tomorrow, love," I promise.

"Oh, that will be very nice for you, Addie, I'm sure you will love it," says Filius, who has greeted us in the meantime.

**Sunday, 16.7.2000 / Sirius**

After breakfast we pack the twins into the strollers, pick up the bags with all the towels, sunscreen, toys and stuff and walk down to the beach. It's a lovely day and there are tons of people about, but we can set up our sunshades and blankets. I'm undressing Denny and Seraina, while Remus blows up their rings and balls. We've already put the sunscreen on the little ones. Addie drops her shorts and squeals:

"Can we go now? Can we finally go?" 

"Just now, love."

I let the little ones down and take off my shorts and t-shirt. I'm already in my swimming trunks, hair bound in a braid and sunscreen applied. 

"Okay, dears, let's go to the water!"

Compared to the temperatures we had on Zanzibar island this is cool. But it's nevertheless very comfortable. The children run to the edge of the water. Remus and I take care of the little ones and take turns in playing with Addie. She has now learned to swim quite well and since she's quite a gutsy thing she dares going out to meet the waves. We really enjoy the morning on the beach. By lunch time the twins are totally exhausted. We're both glad that we have the strollers. They're useless on the sand, but after a few dozen metres we reach the road and then the strollers really come in handy. Even Addie is quite exhausted. 

"That was nice, wasn't it?" Remus asks Addie, who walks next to him, holding onto the stroller. 

"Mhm... I'm hungry."

"We'll have lunch in a moment. Just the way back to Mystique Hall..."

We arrive back at the house after half an hour's walk. I'm really looking forward to some rest while the twins are napping. We have taken to send Addie to do some reading on her own just to rest a bit, too. She does that on her own after lunch, we don't even need to tell her anymore. Remus and I sit down on the terrace with Albus, Minerva and Filius and enjoy some coffee. I'm looking through the photos we've taken with the digital camera. 

"What's this thing, Sirius?" Filius asks, curious.

"Oh, it's one of these Muggle digital cameras. I'm just looking at the pictures I've taken this morning..."

Filius is fascinated and looks at the pictures as well.

"That looks nice. I notice a whole lot of progress in your sister, Sirius. She becomes a very cute pre-teen now."

"Yes, she does. I really am pleased how she progresses. She's a bright soul. I really wonder why my family regularly killed bright spirits like hers to twist them into these abominable things like my father and my cousins. I'm so glad, that Andromeda was spared."

"Yes, that was really a pleasant young Black family member to teach. I've seen quite a few of your family in the course of the past eighty years, Sirius. You and Andromeda were definitely the nicest of them. In fact, I've already taught Charms to your father, Arcturus."

"How was he like, as a child?"

"Didn't stand out. Not bad, not the best. Usually got his results soon enough, but nothing outstanding. Your father tended to blend in. Alphard was more like you, of course. He was a Ravenclaw, which gave him a lot more freedom, because like you he didn't have to stand up to the family ties in the Slytherin house. Rigel was yet something else. He was a Slytherin and one of the more brilliant ones. His bad luck was that he was not the oldest. I don't think he really liked to be the number three in the family."

I nod. That's how I've experienced them.

"They were holding together - mostly against Alphard, but I think, my uncle didn't like to take the back seat. And of course he wasn't happy to have daughters only. Jealous that my father got sons, too. And he was livid that I made the better grades. I'm really glad they're gone, the whole lot of them. Only Andy and I left now. And our children who've turned out so much more pleasant. Tonks is a sweetheart."

"Oh yes, she certainly is. I've heard she's doing well as an Auror?" Filius asks.

"Very well."

Remus sits down next to me and cuddles. It's the full moon tonight and he's quite tired, as usual. He puts his head on my shoulders and sighs:

"Dear me, I'm so exhausted! These little ones are demanding!"

"Aren't they? They've kept us busy the whole morning."

"Will you be out tonight?" Filius asks.

"We might take a stroll. Remus can change any time, so I can just disillusion him. Once he's transformed he looks like a wolf, but most people think he's a dog of some sort," I explain.

"I see."

After dinner we can put the twins to bed and they sleep within moments. Addie stays with Minerva and I take Remus for a stroll along the beach. We walk hand in hand, arm in arm and just enjoy the quiet of the sunset, which we can watch well. Remus leans on me, only dressed in his swimming trunks. We return to the path and find some shrubbery where Remus can transform. Then he comes back out, walks by my side and there's no one who even asks a question. We take our time, Remus lopes around, ahead of me, comes back again and runs out again, and he makes at least four times the distance that I cover. After another hour we head back and return to Mystique Hall. Albus, Minerva and Filius sit on the terrace, but in the dark. 

"Hello there! Enjoyed your walk?" Minerva asks.

Remus looks at me and I conjure a basin of water, which he laps.

"Yes, we did. Found some shrubbery where Remus transformed. I don't think anyone has seen him at all. He loves to run as a wolf and it does him a whole lot of good, too."

I sit down on one of the rattan sofas. Remus jumps up, places himself next to me and puts his head on my thigh. I caress his head and scratch him behind his ears. He looks up and gives a short bark.

"Love you too, darling," I say.

Minerva sips her whisky and watches our exchange, then she smiles.

"Do you even have an idea how cute the two of you are?"

"Thanks," I say weakly.

Remus throws her a glare. 'Cute???'

"Yes, Remus, cute."

"He still sees himself as a monster, even though these days he's so far away from a monster as anyone can be," I declare.

Remus growls.

"Do you understand what he says?" Filius asks.

"Not literally, but I think he's clear enough in his expressions," I reply, laughing. 

Remus' reaction this time is burying his snout under my t-shirt. We all laugh. I caress him some more. Sometimes he actually really is cute.

All of a sudden there's a small 'swoosh' and Lily and James arrive on the terrace.

"Hello, Lily, James!" Albus greets them delightedly.

"Hi everyone! All the kids have gone out, we started to feel awfully lonely at the Sunnegg!" James tells us.

"You are most welcome to stay here whenever you feel like some company," Albus assures them.

"Thank you, Albus."

The evening passes with lots of talking and laughing. At times we also go into the plans for the auction and in the next days we'll have to go ahead and label all the lots and establish the final lists. Then we get to the fact that we are planning to take some time to work on our book. We're now through with our childhood and Hogwarts years. It's going to get very tough soon, so we have to get back to the Pensieves.

"So you're actually still working on it? You hardly mentioned it lately," Minerva remarks.

"We've gone through those memories. But now we've got to wade through the tons of notes we've got about them. We've done a lot in terms of descriptions, they've got to be linked and edited now. That's quite a lot of stuff which has to be streamlined. And it's only one half of the whole thing," I say.

"I think, it would take quite a lot of courage for me to go through my memories like this. And I do not think that I have seen half of the horrors that you have, Sirius," Albus admits.

"I think, so far it was my home life that was the actual horror. Azkaban is still lurking. Up to now it was mostly a very intimate thing, especially since Remus and I shared a lot of it with James, Lily, Harry and Hermione. We even shared some of it with Addie."

"Sharing may be the key word here," says Filius.

"Probably. It's like loading off some bits of the burden and that has been relieving."

It's getting late. Remus snoozes next to me and enjoys my caresses. But I just twitch to get up and he's awake, hops off and looks up at me. 

"To see this, Sirius, to see Remus so relaxed, even though he is in his forced wolf form, that is certainly one of the most wonderful things I have been allowed to see in my whole life. I'm very glad I completely forgot about today being the full moon," says Albus.

Minerva smiles. In the meantime she's already so used to the werewolf Remus that she hardly ever loses a single thought about it. She gives Remus a couple of strokes over the back. Yes, I would have to agree with Albus, that this is a wonderful image. We wish everyone a good night and find the room we've been assigned. It has a very nice, very Victorian decoration. I pull the blankets back and Remus hops on the bed.

"I'm just checking on the children, love, I'll be right back."

He nods and I'm off to see if everything is alright with our children. The twins are sleeping and so is Addie, but as she does so often, she fell asleep over her book. I turn the light off, spell all the mosquitoes away and put her book on the nightstand. Addie groans a bit, but I can cover her up properly and she's right back in her deep sleep.

Then I return to my partner who's already fast asleep. 

**Thursday, 20.7.2000 / Albus**

I had forgotten how tiring two year olds are. I have to say that I admire the easy way Remus and Sirius get along with the twins. It has been too long since I have had small children around me, my own three sons have left the home so long ago that I don't even remember, all three of them and my daughters-in-law have died in the past more than sixty years, but all three have left me with twelve grandchildren and even more great-grandchildren. I also have many great-great-grandchildren by now, so my family is still very numerous. The youngest children in my family are three great-great-great-grandchildren who are between ten and fourteen. Now that I'm retired I get to see them more often. Aberforth had a fairly large family, too. 

Seraina and Dennis are both very active two year olds. When they aren't off to the beach the little ones run around the garden and the terrace and hardly ever take a break. 

"They seem to have endless energy, don't they?" a voice says next to me.

I turn around and see that Minerva has joined me at the railing of my balcony. I smile.

"They do. But they are really nice children."

"I sometimes imagine that Sirius must have been a child like Dennis is now. That's at least how we have seen him at Hogwarts, haven't we?" she asks.

"Yes, we have. But I've talked to James for a bit and he and Lily told me some of the things they've seen in Sirius' Pensieve. I don't think Sirius has had a childhood like his son enjoys. According to James he was never really spoken to unless Alphard Black had visited. Can you imagine a childminder not ever touching the child except to carry him to see his parents. Maybe once a day or so. James said that they were all wondering how Sirius ever learned to speak. He was held back in everything, there was not the slightest bit of support or feeling from his parents. It must have been very hard to watch. By the time Sirius has come to Hogwarts he's perfected the mask of the exuberant child so well that we could only guess how his home-life looked like."

"I've given it some thought, too. Sirius himself says that his whole attitude today is thanks to the encouragement of his uncle and having met James and befriended him."

"That certainly had the impact on him he needed to sway to our side. And look what a delightful child he has now. Dennis is really a very sunny little boy."

"Unless he has one of his, albeit rare, crying fits," Sirius remarks from below.

We both look down. Sirius has come to the terrace below and has heard us.

"Talking about me behind my back?" he asks with a grin.

"Of course, Sirius, you should know by now that this is one of our favourite pastimes. Once you have seen the whole of the wizarding world pass through your school for several decades you will feel totally at home in this sport. We're invited to some Ministry function and basically watch what's become of our old students... believe me, that's more interesting than any Daily Prophet," I admit.

He laughs.

"Yes, I can imagine. I'm beginning to notice that it is a really good thing to get to know all these children. Through them I get to know their parents and like that I'm currently increasing the range of people I know far beyond the circle of people I ever knew before Azkaban," Sirius remarks.

"Only you won't be able to keep up with all the acquaintances. Stick to your close friends and enjoy the ships that pass in the night. Though as the head of your house you will certainly learn to know some parents better than others. Especially parents of Gryffindors," I advise.

"Yep. That seems to me a natural thing to occur. But I like it, it keeps me on my toes... just like my son!"

Sirius looks around, because Denny has fallen down a little step and cries. Sirius goes over and lifts his little son up to comfort him. He cleans his knees from the gravel and dirt and kisses him. Dennis cuddles close to his father and the flow of tears stops. Sirius lets him down again and looks after him as the little one joins his sister on the lawn. Sirius and Remus have set up a plastic baby pool for the twins. They love to splash in the water and this is a lot less dangerous than the seashore. 

Our two young friends have set up a little routine though. In the morning they go down to the beach. They return for lunch, after which the twins go to bed for their nap. Addie usually vanishes for a bit, too, but all three of the children are up again at about four. Sirius and Remus then let the twins flounder about in the baby pool and watch them while they play some games with Addie. 

I'm returning inside and get ready for dinner. I can hear Remus and Sirius gather the twins outside and taking them in to get them dressed again. We all meet back on the terrace, as the food is served out here. It is such wonderful weather it would really be a shame to eat inside. Minerva, Lily and Filius discuss some newer charms as they sit down at the table. I take my seat and watch Remus who places Seraina first and then Denny in a high chair and fits both children with a bib. Both of the twins eat quite nicely by now. It's really a pleasure to watch them. 

Half an hour after dinner they come by to wish us a good night. Addie goes with them but returns when Sirius and Remus come back down, now wearing her pyjama and slippers. She's allowed to stay with us for another hour. It's about nine when Sirius sends her off to bed:

"Addie, love, it's bedtime!"

"Aww, can't I..."

"No, my love. Growing little girls need a lot of sleep, so you'd better go to sleep now."

"Okay... good night, Siri."

Adara gets up and hugs her brother, continues with Remus and also comes to us old people to wish us a good night. Then she dances up the stairs. 

"What a well behaved girl she is, Sirius," Minerva remarks.

"Yes, I think so, too. She'll not be quite the piece of work I was at school, I think," he admits.

"Well, I'll gladly admit that I find too good children rather boring. The more troublesome ones have usually proved to be not only more interesting, but much more promising, too. Unless they were maliciously troublesome of course."

And sometimes the children who provide us with a lot of mischief are the most brilliant ones. They don't always have to be the most successful students, but like the Weasley twins there are quite a lot of clever students who are far better in more than one subject than one might believe when seeing their grades. Molly Weasley might have lamented her twins' lack of academic ambition, but Arthur has always understood that they were resourceful and clever enough to make their way. And while Arthur and Molly are now well situated and can easily afford to have Ginny at the university the twins have had a very short struggle and are now very well off. Their fun park in France seems to be the newest business hit in the wizarding world. Which also pleases me for young Mr. Malfoy who has turned out far better than we even dared to hope.

Once Addie is off to bed Sirius takes out the Pensieve and does some more work on his memories. Remus, Lily and James are with him. They spend a good two to three hours going through the memories in the Pensieve. 

**Lily**

It's time for another Pensieve session. 

>> It's the day of the last feast at Hogwarts for us. We're all quite happy and very sad at the same time. In a way we all want out and get jobs and get on with our lives, but we are all sad to leave our beloved school behind. Remus is the most insecure of all. He has no job yet, because employers know he's a werewolf and generally put him down for it. So he has received help from Dumbledore and will study at Avalon University, where he will intensify the study of his best subjects, Defence Against the Dark Arts, History and Charms. He knows he's just putting reality off, but he's glad for the chance to further his studies, which is the best thing for him anyway. His parents have strongly favoured this solution and they know that Sirius will look after their son very well.

After the feast Professor McGonagall passes by our table and says:

"Miss Evans, Messrs Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew, you are invited to come and see Professor Dumbledore in his office in half an hour, if you please. You know the password."

We're all looking up puzzled. We have to see the headmaster on our very last evening at the school? We're climbing up the marble staircase and find the Gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's tower. As head girl and boy James and I know the password of course and we are allowed in. 

Arriving at the big oak door we knock and are let in immediately. Dumbledore gets up and shows us to a few squashy armchairs and sofas and says:

"It's good of you all to come. I have something important to discuss with you. There will be a few other guests we await though."

The memory shifts a bit further on when all of the awaited guests have arrived. There are about eight other seventh years from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, that have come up. Dumbledore then addresses us:

"Now then. I have called you up here to ask you whether you would be ready to start working with me against the Dark Lord Voldemort and his henchmen. There is an organisation that I have called to life some thirty years ago when we were fighting the last Dark Wizard, Grindelwald, who was gaining power over everyone in the late thirties to mid-forties. As you all know and have experienced in the past years, Voldemort is not just some crackpot, he has a clear goal and he is working towards that goal and he has a lot of followers throughout the wizarding world. 

"I have observed each and everyone of you young people. I know your political views, either by reputation or from yourselves. You could all be important assets in that fight. Yes, it is a fight and yes, out there we have a fully blown war raging. Everyone of us gets drawn into it, whether we want it or not. The Order of the Phoenix is a group of people who dedicate as much as they can or even most of their time to this fight. We are supporting the Ministry, which is mostly in shambles in this task. I know that some of you will be working at the Ministry soon, and I know I have to warn you to be very, very careful. Listen well before you talk to someone. Find out more about them before you let them find things out about you. Unfortunately the Death Eaters have a pretty good hold on the Ministry, and while Madam Bagnold does what she can she has a good amount of followers of the Dark Side on board."

Dumbledore looks us all in the eye and starts explaining some of the tasks of the Order. He then asks every one of us whether we wanted to join his Order. Everyone who is in this circle agrees and gets information about the next meeting and the location of this meeting.

"You do not need any identification except that you are new members of the Order of the Phoenix. The Order member on guard will let you in, I will see to that."

After a lengthy discussion we're all dismissed and leave for our houses. We're all quite subdued and pensive and go up to our dorms to pack. Since it's Remus' or Sirius' memory we're following the boys to their dorm. They finish packing their stuff except for whatever they want to wear the next day. The two boys crawl into bed together, but they only cuddle.

"I'm really scared to go out there, Sirius," Remus admits.

"Yeah, so am I."

"And I'm scared with you in Auror training, too. You will both be in so much danger, Siri. There are so often news about Aurors who die on the job."

"But we're needed, love. You would be needed, too, if those idiots could only let go of their stupid prejudices. On the other hand I'm glad to know you're safely at the university."

"I feel like a coward... hiding out in school."

"We all know that you are no coward, Moony! You admit that you're scared, that often takes much more courage than playing over everything and really running. Because we all know that in a difficult situation you wouldn't turn and run. You'd find the right thing to do. Which is what the Aurors would really need, but they're too bloody moronic to accept it."

Remus shows a slight smile.

"Well, I'll be where I like to be most, in the library. I do intend to make good use of this library, Paddy, I can do research for the Order."

"That you can, love. You'll certainly be the best at it. You and Lily."

"Yes. She'll raid the Ministry library and I'll raid the one at the Academy."

Again there's a shift in the memory and we witness our last train ride on the Hogwarts Express back home to London. We follow Remus and Sirius who are making their trunks small and put them into their pockets to ride the Tube to their new home. When they get there they find it comfortably furnished. Andromeda has done most of the decorating, and she awaits the boys with her little daughter.

"Hi, cousin!" Sirius greets her. They share a hug and Andy asks:

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything fine. We have two months off before the training starts. We can enjoy a really great summer vacation..."

"Except that you will have to be really, really careful. Though you're living in a Muggle surrounding here, so you can be fairly inconspicuous, which is good. Do you want your fireplace Floo-connected?"

"I think so..."

"You'll have to talk to Madam Elderberry, she's the lady at the Floo Regulation for that. Just send her an owl and tell her what name you want. If she doesn't already have it, she'll set it up, otherwise you'll probably be asked for an alternative."

"Good. Thanks for everything, Andy."

"You're welcome, Siri. Though you boys could have come and live with us, you know... the house is really big enough."

"I think, we're ready to try life on our own feet, you know," Sirius says.

"That's fine, too. Anything you need help with, I'm only a fire-call away."

"Thanks, Andy!" Remus says.

We move to the next memory. Sirius and Remus start to get used to their flat. Remus loves to cook and pulls Sirius into the fun. They have taken possession of their new shared bedroom. We see them getting ready to go out on a Friday night. They have a multitude of bars and clubs in the vicinity and are busy discovering them to find their preferred pub. In one of them we can watch how both of them learn to play Snooker. Remus, being the patient one, has a knack to see the best balls to play and he quickly figures out the angles he needs and after a few tries has already noticed a lot about the way he has to play the balls. They meet some people there who teach them more and more. 

"You lads are doin' quite well 'ere! Havin' fun playin', eh?" an elderly man asks.

"Yeah, it's interesting."

Then we see the memory of the two apparating to the place where the Order of the Phoenix meets. They approach a pretty big farmhouse in Lincolnshire, which belongs to the Prewett family. At the door they're stopped and tell the guard that Dumbledore sent them there.

"Ah, you're the new bunch. Well then, come in, laddies. There are already a few of you young 'uns on board!"

"Thanks."

The boys are shown to a large cellar room. Dumbledore is there already, welcomes them and introduces them to all the people in the room they don't know. Which is almost everyone except from the other young people who have just left Hogwarts.

"This is Alastor Moody. You might have heard from him, he's one of our top Aurors," Dumbledore says. "Alastor, this is Sirius Black, he'll join the Auror squad in September, and this is Remus Lupin, he will go to Avalon Academy to intensify his studies of the Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms and History. He will be one of our researchers, so you might remember him when you need something checked in the Academy's library."

"Ah yes. I have heard you've been the best in your year in Defence, Lupin?"

"That's right."

"He was the best dueller as well, sir," Sirius says.

"So why aren't you joining the Auror squad? We could certainly use some fresh blood of your calibre."

"Circumstances..." Remus says.

"Alastor, he would have gladly joined, but the Ministry does not usually employ his kind..." Dumbledore says softly.

"Oh, so you're the werewolf? Awful business that. Would love to have someone like you in my teams, couldn't care less of what you are, lad. But if you have the brain to go to Avalon, then I guess we can make use of your talents this way, can't we? I'll gladly help you train a bit like young Aurors get trained..."

Remus' face lights up.

"Would you really do that, sir? I'd love to. Only I don't want to steal from your time..."

"No problem. We can meet here once a week for some duelling. I'll put you through your paces, young man! As for you, Black, you'll be in my training group and I hope you are tough enough! I suggest you do some physical training until September, being fit will make it easier for you. Though not by much."

"Will do, sir!"

Once the Order is complete we see that it consists of at least thirty members who are all waiting for the meeting to start. Dumbledore calls the meeting in session. The members inform about the tasks and their progress. Dumbledore and Moody seem to be the main leaders and assign new tasks or give further advice on existing enterprises. For us newcomers there's not much to do yet. I will start working at the Ministry come 1 August, therefore I'm ordered to just listen in to the meetings yet and maybe talk to some who are busy working on a Charms project. I remember that I had joined them and learned a lot in my best subject within a few hours. The others are assigned to older Order members to shadow them and learn from them. And finally Moody asks all of us to come back to this place for some more duelling and fighting techniques.

These training periods are scheduled every Saturday early afternoon for three hours. The next memory shows us at the end of one such session. We're all rather stumbling outside again and disapparate home rather tired and dishevelled. Sirius and Remus just drop all their clothes and take a hop in the shower. They're both doing well but we all get really worked up hard. 

The memory picks up again when the two boys have recovered from their afternoon's workout and get ready to go out again. They have discovered a gay bar and are on the way out there for an evening of dancing. It gets fairly late until they come back. They go straight to bed. In the Pensieve we also see some visits with Fanny and Quintus Lupin, who have returned to their home in England and gave up their domicile in Switzerland. They could actually hand the farmhouse over to Mrs Lupin's sister who gladly took it as their residence in Bern, when she wasn't spending time in her place in the Graubünden. As for Remus' parents they made me the nicest gift they ever could when they asked me to call them mum and dad. 

Then there is the memory when we told Remus' parents about our Animagi:

"Mum, dad, there's something we want to tell you..." I had started.

"What is it, Sirius? You're not telling me that one of you is pregnant, do you?" Quintus jokes.

I'm a bit startled, but then grin.

"No, it's nothing like that. It's rather something not quite legal. Remember when Remus stopped hurting himself badly back in fifth year?"

"Yeees..." Quintus says, stressing the word.

"Well, there is a reason for that. James, Peter and I have done something so we were able to stay with Remus during his transformations..."

"What? Are you out of your mind, Sirius? You're not telling me that you actually were **with** him in the Shack?" 

"Actually, that's precisely what I'm saying. Only we're in a form that Remus doesn't attack, even in his wolf form..."

And I watch my younger self transform into Padfoot. Remus sits next to the dog and scratches him behind his ears.

"That's why I call him Padfoot, dad..." he says.

Quintus and Fanny are both speechless for a good long while. I have long since transformed back when Fanny jumps up and embraces me so fiercely that I am almost out of breath.

"Thank you! Thank you, Sirius, thank you so much! This must be the best thing anyone could ever have done for my son and I love you all the more for it! So what you're not registered, just knowing that you found a method to give Remus love and friendship in his worst hours is such a good deed and excuses a bit of illegality..." One memory shows such a transformation. It was in December and it starts with him waking up in his old room. Fanny has healed his injuries and takes care of him. 

"Hi love. Glad you're coming around, Remus."

"'M too..." Remus mumbles.

Halfway through the morning I can finally apparate to my lover and just quickly kiss Fanny on the cheek before rushing up to my sweetheart. Remus is sleeping. I watch my younger self checking him up and then return to the ground floor slowly. 

"How was he this morning, mum?" I ask.

"Not well. You've done wonders for him, Sirius, and when you're not there he does himself a lot of harm."

"I really tried to get free, but I'm only in training yet so I don't get much leeway..."

"He knows. And don't worry, he'll not hold it against you, love. He didn't want to risk it with James alone."

"He's right not to."

I then return to Remus in the early afternoon. He's slowly waking up. I pull him into my arms and kiss him. Remus returns the kiss eagerly, the best sign that he's really better already. During an Order meeting on a Saturday evening we get an alarm from one of the houses we're observing. Moody sends Gideon Prewett, Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius and I to this house to see what we can do. We apparate to the place and catch a glimpse of three Death Eaters who have forced entrance to the house. Gideon throws a stunner to catch the last one, but to our astonishment he only whispers the spell. It's by far enough to let the Death Eater break down almost silently. The others are already inside the house.

"James, tie him up and watch for any others to arrive. Dorcas, can you stay a bit behind as well, so you can help either side?"

"Will do, Gid."

"Okay. Come along, Sirius..."

Sirius and Gideon follow the Death Eaters into the house. It's not all dark and the two adult inhabitants are still up. The Death Eaters surprise them with quickly cast Crucio curses, but they can't hold them up for more than a few seconds. 

"You take the left, Sirius. Just a whispered stunner will be enough," Gideon whispers.

One of the Death Eaters looks around and spots the two new people, but before he can take his wand off his victim and point at the two he's breaking down from the stunner. Gideon and Sirius tie the Death Eaters up. Then they rush and check the victims. They are more than glad to have come out alive. A few minutes later, Dorcas and James come in with two Aurors who are only too happy to take over three Death Eaters. They unmask the three and find that they must be quite new members of Voldemort's forces. 

"Went right in and tortured them with Cruciatus," Gideon reported.

"I really wonder what they find so attractive in torturing people like that," one of the Aurors sighs.

"It's a mystery to me, too. Especially since many of those guys are really weak wizards. But that's maybe just it, they feel powerful when they do it."

"And according to Dumbledore Voldemort thinks that power and the use of it is the only worthwhile thing," Sirius remarks quietly.

"It's real nonsense if you ask me. But we have little time to discuss philosophy, we better get going and take these to the Ministry holding facilities," the Auror replies.

While he starts levitating the two Death Eaters out he turns to the Order members:

"Well done, by the way. Good night!" The next memory is one that makes me smile. It's Christmas 1978 and right after the holiday I meet Sirius at the Auror headquarters. We have time to share lunch.

"Hey there! Had a nice Christmas?" he asks.

"You could say that. I'm actually thinking that it's been the best Christmas I've ever had, Padfoot. Guess what happened?" my younger self asks.

"She said yes," he replies without even thinking.

"Cripes! How did you know that?" I can't but wonder.

"Well, wasn't so hard actually, Prongs, you're looking prouder than you ever did before and as you're always looking the proudest when it's something to do with Lils, then there was only one answer possible. Next time will be when you tell me that she's preggers..."

In spite of my slight disappointment in him guessing right I have to laugh. Geez, no one knows me like Padfoot does! Grinning I confirm his assumption.

"She did! Would you believe it? She said yes and we're going to get married in May. We want you to be our best man, Pads."

Sirius beams. 

"Really? I'd love to be! Will it be a magical or a Muggle wedding?"

"Well, we'll have a civil wedding for the Muggles and then our real wedding will be a magical one, so it will be registered both ways. We haven't chosen the exact dates yet, we'll have to check with the registrar for the Muggle bit. The real wedding will be after that."

"That's great, mate! I'm so happy you do that."

"We're both off on New Year's Eve, aren't we?" I ask.

"I am. If you are, then yes, we both are. Why?"

"Would you and Remus come to our party? We haven't really celebrated moving into our own house yet, so we are inviting some people on New Year's Eve..."

"Sure! Anything we can bring along?"

"Well, if you can make some of that sensational curry you've graced us with the last time we were eating at your place we wouldn't say no..." I say with a grin.

"Sure! That's always a joint venture between Remus and I, so we'll gladly produce a pot full. How many people do you have in mind?"

"Well, we'll make it kind of buffet style, so I'd say calculate for about ten to fifteen."

"Will do. Remus will grin when he hears of it, Prongs!" Sirius says, still beaming.

The memory ends here and goes on when Sirius sees Remus the next time. He apparates to his flat and calls:

"Moony! Moony, are you here?"

Remus comes running from his study, because he thinks something must be wrong if Sirius calls for him like that. Sirius just catches him in his run and spins him around before kissing him deeply. Remus gives him a moment, then pushes him a bit away to ask:

"Sirius! You've frightened me! What's up? You're coming in here calling for me like that..."

Sirius laughs and kisses Remus again.

"Nothing bad, love! Just - our little Jamie wants to get married, Moony! Can you believe it?"

"Really? Wow! Now that's good news. Do you know when?"

"Some time in May. They want to have a Muggle wedding first and have it registered with the Muggles, then there will be one for the magical side."

"That's great! I think, May is perfect for a wedding."

"Absolutely. And I'll be the best man, love!"

Remus laughs.

"That's not really a surprise, Paddy, I expected you to say that. I'll have to congratulate them..."

"You can do that on New Year's Eve, we're invited to join the party and we're asked to bring a big pot of curry..."

"Oh, good!" 


	26. Holiday In Cornwall (part 2)

With the memory of that party ends what is in the Pensieve at the moment. Sirius and Remus note down what they have and we end the work on the memories for tonight. It's going to be fun to see their memories of our wedding. But between the beginning of the year 1979 and our wedding in May we had a lot of ugly things to see and saw the murder of Marlene and Peter McKinnon, two of our most talented Order members. To call us Auror trainees was actually quite superfluous, because we were actually already doing our jobs like fully trained Aurors. Barty Crouch was asking for more Aurors all the time and he desperately looked for people who would be willing to enter the service. Most of us worked more haphazardly and everyone just kind of used the methods they were most comfortable with. We did do some training, but I think we got the better training at our Saturday Order meetings than at the Auror headquarters. Moody was mad at Barty most of the time, because Crouch was almost as ruthless as the Death Eaters when it came to catching them. He was obsessed to clear this world of Death Eaters, but in those days it seemed that they were growing new ones quicker than we could put them out of the way. Moody joked that they must breed and accelerate their brood. But the longer it went the less he joked and when even Moody stops cracking jokes a situation must really be desperate. He's not a clown, but he usually finds something to leave a cynical remark on anytime. 

**Thursday, 27.7.2000 / Remus**

As we're sitting down at breakfast Minerva tells us that we'll have to go and sit in a meeting today to determine the procedures of the auction. Albus will be with us of course and we'll meet the other auctioneers, Lester Freedman, who is a popular Quidditch commentator and Celestina Warbeck, the WWN witch who's known to just about every witch and wizard in the country. She's already advertised the auction dates and the location. The Great Hall will be packed! 

It's an interesting day. There are experts who evaluate all of our lots. They spread the best ones evenly among the others and we hope to raise a lot of money for Hogwarts this way. Among the lots are precious pieces of furniture and jewellery, but there are even more paintings, portraits as well as landscapes and other art objects. All in all we have about four hundred lots to sell. They will be exhibited in the Great Hall for a week and people can come and look them over. 

When we finally return to Mystique Hall Minerva reminds me:

"We've another meeting yet, Remus and that's with the school governors because of the new location for Slytherin house. I've written to them a week ago and they set a meeting for tomorrow. It's too late to remodel for this year, but we have all year then to make it fine for the start of the next school year."

"Oh, great. What time is the meeting?"

"At two in the afternoon. I don't think it will take long. We meet them at the Ministry."

"That's fine."

**Friday, 28.7.2000 / Remus**

After lunch Minerva and I get ready to meet the school governors. We apparate to the Ministry and meet Eric, who checks in our wands. 

"Hello, Professor McGonagall, hi, Remus!"

"Good day, Eric. We have a meeting with the complete assembly of the school governors at two. Conference room three."

"Yup, noted here, Professor. Go right ahead, some of them are already here..." Eric said lazily.

"Thank you."

We move to the lifts and get one down to the sixth level, where the smaller conference rooms are situated. In the lift we meet Mandy and Jason who come from lunch.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall! Hi Remus! What are you doing here today?" Mandy asks.

I give her a short hug and we exchange kisses. As the lift usually takes endless time to reach its destination we have a minute or two to talk.

"Oh, we're meeting the school governors. Are you in your office? I'll come by there then afterwards."

"Yes, I'll be around the whole afternoon. There are a couple of people who have to come by for the registry today, so I'll be in."

"Great."

Mandy gets out on level five and Jason is with us down to level six, where he has his office. While we walk to the conference room he gives us news about the trial against Fudge.

"You will be called as witnesses, but not right at the beginning. You'll have mail some time next week about it. Sirius will be called, too, because his story certainly is one of the things that will bring Fudge down."

"But we'll meet with you to discuss our testimonies, won't we?" I ask.

"Of course. Especially Sirius. I mean, he was exonerated, but he never even got a compensation or anything, hardly a public apology. I'm amazed he took that so easy."

"Well, I suppose he just wanted to have that put behind and into the past. It will be hard for him to talk about it again."

"I know. But as far as I know him, he'll get through it. He's a pretty tough guy when he needs to be."

"Sirius can be tough, that's right. It will be part of his own healing, too. He's still working out all his issues, you know, we're still working on that autobiography."

"Can't wait to read it," Jason says with a grin, then turns to Professor McGonagall: "How are those two to work with? Mandy still praises them a lot whenever she gets an opportunity. And she doesn't only want to peeve her parents with it."

"I can't complain so far, Mr. Taylor. But that's probably mostly because Sirius has so much fun teaching. My subject's been my heart and soul, but seeing Sirius teach it I'm gladly hiding out in the headmistress' office and let him work his magic. I do think I can praise him, too. He's able to really pull the students along and they have as much fun learning as he has teaching. His fifth and seventh years have done well on their OWLS and NEWTS this year. Don't need to comment much on Remus' teaching, it's been impeccable the first time he's been at Hogwarts and it's still up to that standard, so over all I can only say that I'm very happy that they're at Hogwarts."

"Wow! I don't think I've heard you talk in such praising words ever, Professor! That's huge complements you're making them there..."

"I know. I'm very tempted to have a poll next year to find out the favourite teacher - it will probably be a close call between Sirius, Filius Flitwick and Annis Limbury. Potions has a much better reputation these days than in the past. They even like Waldo Hawkridge, but I have to say that Waldo is quite an agreeable fellow."

It's nice to see Minerva so content. She's handing out complements more easily these days. She likes it to be milder than in her days as a teacher and deputy headmistress. She can afford to be more lenient and the whole atmosphere in the school has softened down. Which is amazing given that Albus must have been the most lenient headmaster you could imagine. But he had to work with a house Slytherin that was contaminated by so much contempt for everything and everyone they considered beneath them that they were responsible for most of the tension. And having the very explosive Gryffindors on hand who only needed one little spark to go off at the Slytherins he had a hard time to avoid the war being fought out in Hogwarts as much as in the outside world. The mood has become lighter in the last two years, that is for sure. Slytherins have started to mingle with the other houses more and we see many of the students meeting at the Great Hall outside of classes and chat, play or study together. That is so much progress in the direction that Albus wanted to head it's sometimes amazing. Give it four or five years more and it will be standard to spend much more time in the Great Hall than in the common rooms. Which will be when I will personally see to it that curfew will be extended to ten pm. 

But now we have to move on. Jason gives us a cheerful wave as he steps inside his office and we reach our goal a little further on down the corridor. I knock and open the door for Minerva. Out of the twelve school governors five are already there. Mrs Mandeville steps up and greets us:

"Minerva! It's lovely to see you, dear, how are you?"

"Hello Drusilla! I am fine, thank you very much. And yourself?"

"Oh, as well as always!"

We're chatting amicably while we wait for the rest of the school governors and Elizabeth Montgomery, who will also take part in the meeting. Once everyone is there we have a few topics besides our wish for the relocation of Slytherin house, which will be last on our list of topics. Elizabeth takes over the lead as we take our seats.

"I'd like to welcome you all to this full meeting of the board of governors, the leading staff of the school and myself. Miss Argyll here will be responsible for the protocol of the meeting, which you should all receive within a few days. Well, I think, there are several points to be cleared. Minerva, I suppose I'd best pass the word to you."

"Thank you, Eliza. First I'd like to thank you all for your support in the last year, which was my first as a headmistress. I have continued for the most part in the ways I was used from Albus and I do think it has turned out quite well. 

"I have supplied you all with our budget for the next school year. I suppose, this will make for the first topic today. Mr. Morrow, what is the decision of the board in this question?"

"It has been agreed on, Professor. You have handed in a budget only marginally different from last year's, which has not been run over, so we have decided that it was accepted by the board."

"Thank you, sir. Eliza? What is the Ministry's opinion?"

"It's perfectly fine with us, Minerva."

"Thank you. That was quite quick and easy."

We rush through a few more subjects, then Minerva brings up our wish for more cultural subjects.

"We'd like to offer more opportunities for our students to learn instruments or art techniques and the likes. I'm thinking of hiring a music and an art teacher for the next year. As far as I remember Hogwarts offered such lessons before the first crisis with Voldemort and only stopped because we needed a stronger emphasis on Defence and Duelling. And then it had never been reintroduced, which I found a bit of a shame. I'm also thinking of starting a theatre club and maybe have the music teacher organise a school choir. We don't do enough for our children's cultural education. There are quite a few who would like to learn more about painting, for example. Especially in this discipline we find a complete lack of official schooling. Magical painting techniques would make for a nice elective. What do you think about this?"

"You know, I've often wondered why Albus has let this slip. The age group of the Hogwarts school would be the best for such subjects. Music and arts have traditionally been underemphasised, I would support the offer," Eliza agrees.

There is a short discussion and then the school governors agree with the suggestion, but they want to know what Minerva intends to invest in the program.

"I'll have to look over everything. I do think we will need a few pianos, because that's something you don't just carry around, and we'll need to prepare a couple of rooms as practice rooms, but there's so much of Hogwarts we never even use that this is really not a big problem. I'm handing the menial part of this job to the house-elves, so we can do it with our own resources. What will be an extra on the budget will be the salaries for the teachers. I need the basic agreement from the board for now that we could go ahead and then I'll have a poll for the parents and one extra for the students already at Hogwarts to find out the degree of interest for this offer. As for the investment for the instruments and art supplies we'll have a bit of extra cash from the auction in August."

"That sounds like a good way to go about it. There's no use of hiring people if there should be no interest..." one of the governors remarks.

"Well, if only twenty to fifty people are interested it will be enough, because that will probably occupy a music teacher quite nicely. Those lessons will have to be taken after classes anyway," Minerva says.

"Good, that gives us an idea of the needs. Inform us of the outcome of your polls, Minerva."

"Of course I will. So - that leaves us with our last topic. For years and years we have seen children vanish down in the lowest part of the castle into Slytherin house. Ever since I've come to Hogwarts as a teacher I've been horrified by the fact that these children never get to see the daylight in their accommodation. Now I do know that Salazar Slytherin personally put the house there, but it is not doing those children any good."

"Hufflepuff house is also down in the cellars, Professor McGonagall," Mr. Morrow, a former Slytherin himself, throws in.

"That's right, Mr. Morrow, but Hufflepuff is on the outside of the castle and has lots and lots of windows. The common room is as bright as the one in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. In any case we have started to look around the castle and found that the North tower could be completely freed for Slytherin house and would give them a much brighter surrounding. Children don't belong in dungeons! As for the new decoration of the new house we'd be letting the sixth and seventh years help so it would be to their taste. And of course the colour schemes would be kept up just like in the dungeons. I do believe that the frigid feel of the house accommodation is partly responsible for the frigid personality that many of the house members display. Personally I don't think that friendlier surroundings work against ambition and cleverness but a lot towards friendliness and free spirits."

I can see that Eliza grins. I'm sure she's discussed that with Minerva before and I'm equally sure she'll support the decision. But there are three former Slytherins on the board and they have to be convinced, because certainly this is an important enough request that it needs to be voted on unanimously. The matter is discussed heatedly for a while. 

"For over a thousand years Slytherins have gone down to the dungeons, Minerva. And they haven't suffered for it. So why should we change tradition so ruthlessly?" asks Mrs Avery, a former Slytherin who managed to keep out of her family's dabbling with Voldemort's forces, but still belongs to the more conservative faction in the Board of Governors.

"Because the house will profit. The students will feel better and will get along with the rest of the school better. The spirit will be raised and they will perform even better. There is really no reason for the coldness that has become the rule down in those dungeons. Even with all their ambition these children have a right to have some fun, too. How can anyone have fun in that darkness and coldness? It's unhealthy and unsanitary as well. And it does not hold up with modern standards. I would like to come out of the middle ages and start leading the next few generations of Hogwarts students into the third millennium. It's about time that we remember that we're a tiny minority among a huge majority of Muggles. But that I'm only mentioning in passing, because what's really important is that these children are treated like the children and young adults they are, not like prisoners."

"We have always been of the belief that this surrounding steels young Slytherins for what they will have to accept - that they will be the target of the other houses because they are Slytherins," Mr. Kingsley, the third former Slytherin remarks.

"And in seeing it that way we have allowed them to go down there, brood, scheme and become exactly that, targets. Not that they don't usually give as much as they get, Mr. Kingsley. I have worked with them for the past thirty years and I can tell you that I've made my experiences. They're not steel that you hammer into the form you want, sir, they're children! When they are still only eleven, twelve, thirteen years of age they need to be nurtured, treated with care and led with a firm hand, but they need warmth, air and light. We see too many of those children with unhealthy pale faces, too many of them have health issues like insomnia, nightmares and the likes. It's all part of the lack of light and air. The sooner we get them out of there the better."

Finally the board decides to cast a vote. All nine representatives of the three other houses vote yes immediately, the three former Slytherins come a bit after them and a bit reluctantly, but finally Mr. Morrow makes a move and lifts his hand, then the other two follow. Minerva lets go of the breath she's held. So do I. I start to beam and applaud their decision.

"Thank you very much for your consent. The children will really only get better once they're used to their new accommodation. We have a few good ideas. Parts of the procedures of the auction next month will be used for the renovation of the tower and what rooms will be needed to fit the house inside. It's a large enough area, which will take some time to get ready, but this year's first years will be the last ones to go down to the dungeons. It will be a house project which Professor Carla Vector will gladly lead. As the head of Slytherin house she has supported my idea," Minerva says for a final remark.

We leave the meeting, happy about the favourable decisions for Hogwarts. I know it will be hard to understand and much will be fought about it among the more traditional Slytherin families, but the children will profit in the end and their comments will be the reasoning that will bring the change of opinions. We will let them do their decoration themselves, and the outcome will be as Slytherin as anything, but it will be their choices and they will have the freedom to choose. 

Minerva accompanies me to the Werewolf Registry. She's never been there and has already heard from Sirius what Mandy is making out of it, so she's quite curious. We enter the main office, which looks so much friendlier these days. There are quite a few people who mingle about. Some of them I know, but most are strangers to me. What is common in them is that most of them look a lot better than they have a year or two ago, I'd bet a fair few Galleons on that. And what's also common in them is that they all look at Mandy with a lot of sympathy and care in their eyes. If there is one certain property of werewolves it's that we're all very passionate. We have strong feelings, be it in our dislike or our like. 

"Hi, Remus!" I hear from more than one side. 

I greet the people I know. Mandy comes over and greets us again.

"Hi, Remus! Hello, Professor McGonagall! It's nice to see you here."

Many of the people here greet Minerva with respect. Some have known her as their transfiguration teacher and those she greets with a handshake. There is one who had been a classmate of mine, who was bitten long after he left Hogwarts. He was a Hufflepuff. I haven't seen him since we left school, but he remembers me.

"Hi, Remus. What leads you here?"

Seems that he still doesn't know that I'm a werewolf.

"Normally the same as you, Mark, but today I'm just coming to see my former student. We've had a meeting with the school governors."

"Oh... when were you bitten then?"

I grin.

"When I was four."

"What? So you've been at Hogwarts and the entire time....?"

"Yes. Once my friends knew they covered for me whenever it was needed. Helped a lot."

"And now you teach? And no one is crying outrage?"

"Yes, I'm teaching Defence. Mandy used to be a special student of mine. She's spent two years with me, Sirius and a few other students at a safe house in Switzerland. So we're quite close. - Mark was a Hufflepuff in my year, Mandy," I tell her as she steps up to us.

"Oh dear. And neither of you knew about the other?" she asks.

"Well, we don't usually advertise our condition to that many people, you know," Mark remarks.

"I'd rather turn the question on you, Mark. When were you bitten?"

"Seven years ago. I've been struggling but my wife helps a lot. At least I'm not wanting of anything financially."

"Glad to hear that. Mandy is doing a lot of good now though, isn't she?"

"She's really the best! I can start looking for work again, because she's preparing the grounds. She seems tireless. I'm only afraid that we'll lose her once she'll get married to that fellow she's hooked up with."

"I don't think so, Mark. I like what I do, you know. It's great to work together with so many different people. And on a whole other level it's also very satisfying to see that I can actually improve things with my work! I just need to compare the attitude towards the Registry in the werewolves as well as the Ministry and the general public and I can already see what my work has achieved. The latest polls show that people are much less worried about werewolves in general. My going more public about the potion and the new shelters and all has improved public awareness a lot."

"You have every reason to be proud of yourself, Mandy," Mark agrees.

"What do your parents say to that, dear?" Minerva asks and grins.

Mandy snorts. Then she says: "They're still cool. But they're glad that I'm at least together with the 'right' kind of man. I've reduced the contact to them to the occasional birthday and Christmas card. My chosen family is much warmer and I feel much more love and appreciation from them. Once Jason has that monstrous trial done we'll get married, Remus."

"That's nice to hear! Congratulations, Mandy! It's fun to watch all you guys getting married and becoming parents left and right!"

"Isn't it though? You'll still have ample opportunities to dance at a couple of weddings."

"Which we'll love, believe me. Besides we're honoured to get invitations to such occasions. Gives us both quite a good feeling."

"So you're still together with Sirius?" Mark asks.

"Yes. He's taken Minerva's place as the Transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor house. I've taken her place as deputy headmaster..." I reply casually.

His jaw drops.

"Wow... I didn't know that! But that would be because we don't have children at Hogwarts. We have three, but they're not yet coming to school, the oldest is only eight."

"So we'll see them in a few years. We have two children, twins who share their birth mother and a third child, who's not ours, but Sirius' little sister. She starts Hogwarts next year. The twins are only two, so they'll wait for another couple of years."

"That's nice. My youngest son has turned two in June. When I was bitten my oldest was a year old and it took some courage to get another child, we didn't dare for a while, because of all the rumours that lycanthropy could be inherited, but then we had an accident. The baby was perfectly well and is now a pretty excitable five year old boy, so we didn't have any scruples when we felt ready for the third."

The door opens and another werewolf comes inside. Mandy looks around and grins.

"Hey there, Vincent!" she calls.

"Hello, everyone. Hey kitty cat!" he greets Mandy.

He's a sturdy man, I'd think he's over sixty, but looks strong and quite well. Mandy beckons him over and says:

"Vincent, I'd like you to meet Remus Lupin. Remus, this is Vincent Ramsay, remember, I told you about him being the one who does most of the work on the Birmingham shelter. I told them that Sirius is putting up this trust and he asked why Sirius would do something like that, so I told him he was your mate. And told him about you. He could hardly believe you're really a werewolf."

I laugh. Never before have I felt so much at ease among my own kind. In fact I've always felt far away from the other werewolves, because I was so well integrated into the wizarding society, had so many friends among my fellow wizards and witches. Friends who care about who, not what I am. So many other werewolves lose so much once they're werewolves and so many exclude themselves from all they were before the bite. Mandy brings us together more easily. I see that some people don't come in to renew their registry and rush out as fast as they can, but stand or sit around and chat. There are at least ten to fifteen people in the room. Before Mandy started here, the rooms would be bare and everyone got out as fast as they possibly could.

"So I get to know you now. I'm pleased to meet you, Professor. I've heard that you've had an amazing career for one of our kind..."

"Pleased to meet you, Vincent. Call me Remus, please. Yes, I'm still in awe about it myself. I did study to become a teacher after Hogwarts, but I never actually expected to be able to work in my profession, but now I'm doing it after all."

"Mandy says you're one of the best teachers she's ever had and she has a good eye for people. She's been one hell of a great help for all of us. She says you were the reason why she wanted to work here. It's amazing what she does."

"I'm very proud of her! She's been a great student. But then I really don't complain about my students at all. Only she belongs to a group that's very close to my heart. We were more like a large family during the years we spent together in Switzerland. - Did you refer to Mandy's Animagus form when you called her kitty cat?" I ask.

Vincent grins and pats Mandy on the shoulder.

"Yes, she's the cutest little black kitten! She said your partner taught her? And that you're an Animagus, too?"

"That's right."

"Let me guess: wolf?" Vincent grins even wider.

"Wouldn't get many odds on that... that's right."

"Wow. I wouldn't have thought that's even possible."

"We didn't either," I admit, "it was an experiment. But I have to say I'm mighty glad that I've done it and that it's worked, because I can now transform into the Animagus before moonrise. Don't feel a thing anymore. At moonset I just hold the Animagus form and that's it. It was my partner's idea to try and he really had to convince me, but I am more than glad he talked me into it."

"Wow!" some of the people around are totally baffled.

"Was it very hard to learn?" Vincent wants to know.

"I wouldn't call it hard. One difficulty is the potions you need, there are two. You should know what you're doing so you should learn all the theory around it and of course there's that mountain of spells you need to cast for your initial transformation. You should not try to do it all on your own in any case. Because if something goes wrong you should at least have someone around who knows how to bring you back. A few people have never recovered from their attempt. Others have kept body parts from animals and were never able to get rid of them again. We've looked at quite a lot of gruesome cases. Sirius needed to remind our young rascals that the thing isn't to be treated as a walk in the park."

"Shame. Would be tempted to work it out... show us your Animagus, please!"

I transform. It's so easy to just think about that wolf and then become one. Nothing but a slight tremble, then I feel myself on four paws. Mandy scratches me behind the ears. It's funny how we get so tactile whenever one among us who's an Animagus transforms. We immediately touch the animals we become without fear of overstepping boundaries. And I've noticed that whenever one of us transforms they seem to like being petted and touched. 

We spend another enjoyable hour at Mandy's office, then we apparate back to Cornwall where we have a lot to talk about. The twins crawl all over me because I've been away and they've already missed me. What a good feeling that is! In the end we're all the same, werewolf or no, when we're loved and know that others miss us that just gives us a good feeling. I hug and kiss my little ones while I tell Sirius and Albus about the meetings at the Registry. 

Of course we also discuss the decisions of the board. Albus is surprised at our idea about Slytherin house. He thinks it's a splendid plan. 

"Though I have to say that I do expect loud protest from the current members of Slytherin house, at least the upper classes. I'm glad I have Carla's support. She and Waldo will have to do all the work to convince the Slytherins that this would be for their future housemates' best," Minerva says.

"Yes, you might get some rejections there, I think you're right about that. But still... your position is so correct. The children will fare better and grow up much more healthy."


	27. Auction Day

**Monday, 31.7.2000 / Sirius**

I've just put down the Commumirror from calling Harry and congratulating him to his twentieth birthday. We'll actually move back to the Sunnegg today, for another two weeks there before returning to Hogwarts where we need to finish the preparations for the auction. We've got the lists of the lots to study and will meet again with Lester Freedman and Celestina Warbeck to spread the items over them and Albus. We also want to engage Harry to have another well known person selling goods.

There's an owl swooping down on the breakfast table and it's coming right for me. I take the letter, which is addressed to me and look at it. It's from the Ministry and signed by Jason. I'm not too surprised to read the summoning as a witness in the trial for Fudge. Jason also asks me to contact him for the briefing before I will actually have to testify. I quickly jot down a reply and tell him to call me when he has time as I'm free for the next two weeks. I pass my note to the owl and send her off.

"There, take that back to Jason Taylor, dear. Thanks!"

I let her have a rasher of bacon and off she flies. We are then getting up to pack up our stuff and prepare our return to the Sunnegg. We thank Albus for these wonderful two weeks here in Cornwall. It's been so peaceful and quiet and we're really all relaxed and well.

"You are most welcome here at any time, Sirius. It was a pleasure to host you and your family. I do hope I will be able to see you here again some other time."

"And we'll gladly come back, Albus."

I hate saying goodbye! Once we have our luggage, miniaturised, and our children we floo back to the Townhouse and take the Portkey from there to the Sunnegg, where we arrive in the middle of a fairly rough thunderstorm. But it's still warm and it looks like it will be over soon. Harry and Hermione welcome us together with some others of the gang. Dobby and Winky are preparing a lovely birthday dinner for Harry. We return our stuff to its original size, leave the twins with the gang and go up to put everything away. Then we return to arrive in time for the aperitif, which Hermione serves in the living room. She's still keeping to the fruit juices as she's still nursing Nevin. But the little one has really grown nicely, he's now quite an agile and alert little man who starts to crawl. We are quite busy keeping the twins from trying to pick him up.

There's no keeping away Addie though. She's delighted that Hermione lets her cuddle with the baby whenever she's in the mood to. 

"Isn't Addie just sweet with Nevin?" Hermione asks me.

"She is - she's going to eat him up if you let her... but I think she has learned what love means by now and she's really delighted about so many things. We just let her discover whatever she can. And she's now eager to go to school."

"She's come such a long way already! You have a very brilliant minded sister there, Sirius."

"I do. We've had Andromeda visiting us at Albus' and she fawned over the girl. Claims that Addie is going to be a Ravenclaw for sure."

"So you protested loudly and told her that your sister will be a Gryffindor, eh?"

I laugh.

"No, actually, I do think she'd make a good Ravenclaw. She's all thick friends with Filius already, you know... he'd be delighted to have her in his house."

"Another year and you'll know..."

I nod. Just another year and she'll already move into a house dormitory. Time seems to rush by so quickly it's sometimes scary. But we can't hold it back. 

The whole gang plus some of their friends are here for the dinner tonight. I meet some that I haven't met before, like Oliver Wood, who's a few years older than Harry. I got to meet Lee Jordan once or twice. It's good to see that our former students build up contacts outside of their group, too. Mandy and Jason are coming as well.

"Hey, Sirius! I got your note, can we fix the date for Wednesday, two in the afternoon?"

"Sounds good to me. Let me quickly jot that down..."

I summon my agenda and add the date.

"Is that only me? No one else here?" I inquire.

"I have Harry on my list as well, he'll come in tomorrow afternoon."

"I see. What's your goal for my testimony?"

"To prove his sloppiness in the first place. Show that he's been very careless in his dealings with people's lives, wellbeing etcetera. You're not the only witness we have to bring forth such a complaint, which is good, because with you, Harry and that other witness we'll have more than one example to corroborate our claim."

"Very good then."

"I'll drill you not only for my questions but even more so for expected questions by Fudge's lawyer. I'll try to prevent some of them by asking quite a few questions in a more aggressive way. That will make it impossible for him to ask them himself. He can only ask further details from anything I've queried."

"That makes sense."

"Cross examinations would last for days with each single witness if we didn't have that rule. It's going to be long anyway. You wouldn't believe the amount of material we have collected these past few months. Bones expected that there would be a lot, but even she who usually isn't very easily fazed was horrified by the details of our findings. "

"Mandy said you'll get married after the trial?"

Jason laughs and says:

"Something like that. We can start organising something after the trial. We're giving that trial a month at least."

Jason and Mandy are a very nice couple. Both are very good looking people who fit together well. And they both seem to be very happy.

"Any children planned?" Remus inquires, smiling at the two young people.

"We'll see... I'd love to have children. Mandy has built up a good crew at the Registry, so she might be willing to give maternity leave a try..."

"You just want to see the 'family' grow, Remus! Such a mother hen you are..." Mandy teases.

Remus grins.

"Guilty as charged, I'm afraid. Though mother hen seems a bit exaggerated, I'm not hogging my children and I'm not going to pack them in wads of cotton just to keep them safe. But I'm certainly looking forward to seeing a lot of new children being born and coming to Hogwarts!"

It's time to get hold of our little rascals to sit them into their high chairs. We all sit down at the table and everyone finds space. Dobby and Winky send over the food. They've cooked as nice food as ever. Harry asked them for lamb roast in a Provençale style, young potatoes fried in herbs and a ratatouille. Just when did he develop that preference for Mediterranean food? I don't moan though, the roast is simply sensational and the tiny potatoes, fried in their peel, because they're so young are just as lovely. The lamb tastes nicely of garlic, rosemary and thyme. 

**Tuesday, 1.8.2000 / Harry**

I don't like to go, but of course I'll support Jason, even if it means I have to testify against Fudge. He's hurt me badly enough by encouraging the Daily Prophet with those slandering articles during my fourth and fifth year. I haven't been to the Ministry very often, so now I stand in front of the desk to ask for directions to find Jason's office. Then I have to present my wand and once I get it back I'm on my way down a few floors to meet Jason. 

He has a fairly nice office which he shares with another lawyer for the prosecution. I'm welcomed warmly and then Jason introduces me to his colleague.

"Thanks for coming, Harry, I know it's not going to be easy for you but you're helping us greatly. Let's go through the questions I'll ask you at the trial. You will be called for the next session, as is Sirius, which is on Thursday. This here is the official court summoning. Instead of sending it I'm giving it to you directly."

Jason hands me a piece of parchment.

"Okay."

We all take a seat and then they start to question me on all my experiences with Fudge. I tell them about every meeting I remember, leaving out only that I saw Fudge for the first time under the Invisibility Cloak in my second year. It takes about an hour until they have evaluated everything and decided on the questions they could ask me about these experiences and what the defending lawyer could possibly ask me after them. 

"That's it. You'll be through in court quickly enough. We calculate about one hour or maybe a few minutes more. Sirius will take a bit longer, but it shouldn't be that much longer."

"Fine. I'll be glad when it's over."

"Will you be at the auction at Hogwarts?" Jason asks.

"Yes. Sirius and Remus have talked me into playing the auctioneer for a while. That's my next stop now - meeting them to get my list of items to sell. And to look at them to be able to say something about them."

"Should be interesting, don't you think?" Jason's colleague, Stephen Harrington asks.

"I have no idea - it's really something I haven't ever done, but I should think so. We'll see. I'm scared like hell to do this."

"Your popularity alone will sell the goods, Harry. That's the idea behind it, just try to push them further, so there will be lots of extra funds for Hogwarts..." Jason says, laughing.

"Easy for you to say, Jason! You don't have a bloody scar at which people are prone to gape. You know how much I hate that. I know I can't change it... but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"One day you won't even notice it anymore. With every year that passes you'll be further away from the public and Voldemort," Jason remarks.

"That's what I hope."

"Oh, I've almost forgotten to tell you - it will be Stephen who actually questions you and Sirius, since it's known that we're friends. I'll even stay way back during these questionings, so that I can't be dismissed because of our association."

"That's fine with me, thanks for warning me though."

Finally I'm through and can return to the Sunnegg. The weather is nice again and we're enjoying the garden and the family. 

**Thursday, 3.8.2000 / Remus**

Lily and James gladly mind the children today, so that I can go along with Harry and Sirius and give them some moral support. Hermione will be with me in the spectators' area. She has left Nevin to Lily's care as well. We get to sit in one of the front rows a bit to the side of the courtroom. The session starts at nine in the morning and there are a few witnesses who are questioned in regards of Fudge's rather bad mismanagement in the financial department. Jason impresses me, he's really quite good. As we've chosen our seats behind the rows reserved for the witnesses we can see Fudge chained to his seat in the middle quite well. 

He's been in Azkaban for a while and now he has nothing to keep the Dementors under control, so it's visible on his face and his stance how much they've made him suffer already. He's lost some of his weight and the robe hangs off him rather loosely. 

The first few witnesses have been witnesses for the defence, now it's the turn for the next witnesses of the prosecution. Harry is called in first. He comes in and sits down and there's spontaneous applause from the audience and even the Wizengamot as he's introduced. Amelia Bones asks for his personal information and then hands him over to Harrington. 

"Mr. Potter, everyone here in the room knows what you have done for the wizarding world in Britain, there's no need to repeat your merits. Most everyone here has held a lot of respect for you when you were still a small boy, even our former Minister. Could you give us an example for that?"

"Yes, I can. In the summer before my third year I had reasons to flee from my guardians' house and did so with the help of the Knight Bus. The moment I arrived in London he was there to make sure I was well cared for and left me in the hands of innkeeper Tom at the Leaky Cauldron. I thought he really wanted to make sure to keep me safe from whatever. I didn't know why everyone was so afraid for me at that time."

"But just a year later that changed, didn't it?"

"You could say that. During the year I had learned that everyone, every adult around me thought Sirius Black was after my life. I believed it myself, until I met Sirius Black in Hogwarts, together with two of my friends and one of my teachers. Two actually, but one of them was unconscious at the time. Black was able to prove to us four that he was not guilty of the crimes for which he had been sent to Azkaban. But as we tried to communicate that to Mr. Fudge he claimed that we had been under a Confundus spell and that what we said could just be dismissed. He wasn't going to listen to three children and a werewolf."

"And Mr. Fudge slandered you more later on, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did. In my fourth year a Death Eater who had managed to disguise himself as a teacher had entered me as a contestant in the Triwizard Tournament. During the year we didn't know who he was, but we knew the reason was probably to kill me. I knew that Voldemort would be back, I had this connection with him and I've had some visions of things he did and so I knew he was after me. What we didn't know was that Voldemort was just waiting to snatch me and use me first to give him his new body and second to kill me right after his rebirth. Well, he managed to do the first, but I got away before he could do the second. Bartemius Crouch Sr. had been murdered when he came to Hogwarts and tried to tell Professor Dumbledore about Voldemort being back and keeping him under Imperius. Fudge dismissed this as pure fantasy on my part, as I had been the one to alert Dumbledore about Crouch, whom I had seen on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. When I finally brought Dumbledore there he was gone though. Fudge simply didn't want to believe what didn't fit into his view of the world. When I was able to return to Hogwarts after Voldemort's rebirth we tried to tell him what happened, Professor Dumbledore tried to advise Fudge on what he should do to counteract Voldemort early on while he was still weak, but Fudge... well, he thought it was all preposterous and that it was impossible and that I was just an attention seeking kid who knew nothing about anything and wasn't right in my head on top of that. And then he took every chance to have the Daily Prophet discredit me and Professor Dumbledore, simply because he didn't want to lose his position as Minister. Of course Dumbledore did what he could, but thanks to the blind eye of that so called Minister Voldemort was able to collect his forces and had time to build up new strength and recruit new Death Eaters. Fudge didn't care in the least that he was close to ruining my reputation. As long as he could be safe in his office."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter, that was very informative - ladies and gentlemen, this is an example of how this politician has been using even children who were unable to defend themselves to either further his career or save it. Mr. Fudge did not have any scruples to use Harry Potter as the beacon of wizarding nobility as long as the boy didn't do or say anything that didn't fit into his own view of the world. The moment Harry Potter's position became one he felt was a threat, he tried to crush the boy."

Fudge's lawyer now gets his chance to discredit Harry, but he manages to give Harry even more of a platform to cite a number of occasions where he was able to see through Fudge's actions. He doesn't mention Fudge's bungling with Sirius' arrest, he leaves that one to Padfoot. After about an hour he's dismissed and takes a seat in front of Hermione and I. Sirius is called in next.

His questioning goes on for a bit longer, but after about one and a half hours he is dismissed as well. Once the court is adjourned we can leave the Ministry. 

I'm glad for Harry and Sirius, that their part is over now. We can now just remain interested in the outcome of this trial and turn to our more urgent matters. 

**Friday, 11.8.2000 / Remus**

I'm travelling between the Sunnegg and Hogwarts. It's not too bad, since I have the permanent Portkey. There is a lot to do in preparation of the next school year. I'm sorting the returned letters for the first years and reply to all the mail that's come in. Then I set up the folders for all the first years. We have sent out sixty-eight letters and I have sixty-eight positive replies. That's great. While copying the names on the folders I put them into an alphabetical order and write the list for the Sorting. I'm looking forward to that!

And while compiling my alphabetical list I stumble again over the name Ariana Dumbledore. There's a Nicola Dumbledore, who's Albus' great-great-great-granddaughter. I wonder, if Ariana is also related to him. I'll have to ask his portrait when I take the final list of the new first years to Minerva in a moment. 

I'm climbing up the stairs to Minerva's office and muse about the feeling to be able to look down on five generations of my family. Minerva opens the door even before I knock. When I enter she grins.

"I used to wonder how Albus did it, you know - knowing who was behind that door. Now I've found out. And no, I'm not giving it away!"

"You're evil, Minerva! Really! I'm wounded, but I'm still kind enough to hand over the list of our new ickle Firsties."

"Thank you, Remus. How many replies?"

"All sixty-eight. Including the eight foreign ones. Here!"

I move over to Albus' portrait and greet him.

"Good morning, Albus. Is Ariana Dumbledore related to your other great-whatever grandchild?"

"Good morning to you, too, Remus. Yes, she is Nicola's younger sister. Next year you'll also get their younger brother. They're my great-great-great-grandchildren, to be precise. But I'm certainly not holding it against you that you don't know the degree of their relationship to me."

Albus chuckles, as he says this. I think, it's a bonus that the artist managed to integrate his infuriating twinkle into this portrait. And he's twinkling like mad right now!

"Oh, that's nice! So another Gryffindor in the making?"

"Not necessarily. Nicola is in Hufflepuff as you know..."

"Right, I forgot," I admit.

"That's quite alright. I have to admit that most of my offspring actually was in Gryffindor."

"It's just a miracle not more of them are around right now, but most have only just left Hogwarts about ten years ago, and Nicola and Ariana are the first of this generation to be ready to come to Hogwarts," Minerva explains.

I did know about Albus' three sons and that he had a series of grandchildren, but just how many I've never had an idea. 

"Do you still have much family around then, Albus?" I ask.

"Oh yes. Out of my twelve grandchildren eleven are still alive and I have a total of thirty-four great-grandchildren, fifty-eight great-great-grandchildren and four great-great-great-grandchildren," he says proudly.

"Wow. Do you know all their names and birthdays without looking them up?" I tease.

"My calendar reminds me of their birthdays! Add all the in-laws, then you have quite a lot of people to remember. Many of them have moved away from Britain, too, but some still come back regularly."

"Well then, I have to go and see to the setup of the auction lots for the viewing next week. Everything should have been brought into the Great Hall now. We've had to enlarge it to twice its size to make room for everything! I'm meeting up with the auctioneers to go through the lots."

That's my next job. I'm down in the Great Hall a few minutes later and look around all the furniture and the paintings and many valuable books and artefacts. This should make a good amount of money for the Hogwarts vault. I'm looking forward to the two auction days. We've had lots of people who registered as possible bidders, so we expect lots of good trade. 

Harry is the first of the auctioneers to arrive. Hermione and Nevin are coming with him. Then Celestina Warbeck comes in. She looks around the Great Hall and beams:

"Ah! Hogwarts! How long ago is that? I can't even remember it properly! So good to be back here. Hello, Professor Lupin, nice to see you again."

"Good afternoon, madam. It's good, to see you, too. I suppose you know Harry Potter..."

"Who doesn't? Though only by hearsay. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Potter!"

"This is Celestina Warbeck, Harry, you probably heard her on the WWN..."

"I did. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms Warbeck. May I introduce my wife, Hermione, and our son, Nevin?"

"I'm honoured to get to know you, Mrs Potter. We wouldn't know how to live anymore without your wonderful invention! And what a lovely little boy you have! How old is he?"

"I'm pleased to meet you, too, Ms Warbeck. Nevin's eight months old now."

While Celestina starts to chat with Hermione and Harry, little Nevin stretches his arms out and wants to come over to me. Hermione smiles and hands him over.

"Hello, my little one! Hard to believe you're a Marauder grandchild already, eh? You look up to no good, too, do you know that?"

He grins at me and shows his lovely eyes, which are more and more green these days. This clear green is just simply astounding. I'm not too astonished that James fell for those eyes first. Celestina looks at the baby and smiles.

"He's got your eyes, Mr. Potter..."

"He does. And if he's got my eyes all the way he'll probably need glasses, too."

"But they are delightful, Harry," says a new voice behind us. 

Albus has sneaked inside, still as quietly that no one noticed him. We all turn around and greet him. Albus looks at the little boy on my arms. Nevin is a good mixture from the Potter/Evans side and has a lot of facial resemblance to Hermione. 

"He may be lucky and might be spared the Potter hair though," Hermione jokes.

"That's what I hope! And dad! Though dad never minded as much as I did, it seems," Harry comments.

"We're still waiting for Lester and our antiques savant, Siobhan Quirke to come in, then we can start going through the lots. She's worked hard for the past weeks and put together a list of facts about the goods and evaluated them. You will each get a list for your lots and you can take your details from it as well as a suggested starting prices," I explain to the three while I see Lester Freedman opening the door to the Great Hall for Siobhan. 

"Ah, there they are!"

After another round of introductions we get to work. There are roughly four hundred lots to go through and we quickly go over them in the next few hours, which are only interrupted twice for a good break with a meal and lots to drink. Siobhan tells some facts about the most interesting pieces, which she has pointed out specially on the lists.

"I've also spread them over your four slots, so that everyone of you gets a few star items and a few 'sleepers' to sell. That will keep up the interest," Siobhan explains.

"What's a 'sleeper'?" Lester asks.

"Oh, that's auctioneers' jargon for an item that might fly high during an auction. Something that no one expects and there are a few of them at every auction."

"That must be a Muggle thing... I've never even heard about something like an auction," Lester mumbles.

"I suppose it is. Many Muggles are absolutely crazy for auctions. It's a good way for antiques to circulate though," Siobhan admits.

"So how does this really work then?" Celestina asks. "I'm afraid I know just as little as Lester about auctioneering."

"How about a demonstration with some of these items? I'm the auctioneer and you people are the bidders," Siobhan suggests and goes over to the stand we've built up for the auctioneer on the dais.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," I say and conjure up little plaques with numbers for all of us.

"Now, I will give you the number of the lot and a short explanation... Our next lot is number 438, a lovely landscape painting by the well known wizard painter Tiberius Troller. We have reasons to believe that this painting was done in around 1838, as it has a signed mark on the back that's dated in this year and says that the painting has been handed to its new owners, the family Plant. Starting price for this item is 20 Galleons. Anyone bidding 20 Galleons?"

Hermione holds up her number.

"20 Galleons to the lady in front of me. Any advance on 20 Galleons?"

Albus holds up his number and Siobhan continues:

"22 Galleons for the gentleman in the corner. 24?" She looks at Hermione, who nods.

"24 Galleons back to the lady. Any advance? 26?" Siobhan looks back at Albus, but I hold up my plaque.

She sees it and swivels around to face me.

"26 Galleons, new bidder. 28?"

Hermione shakes her head now, Albus as well.

"26 Galleons to the bidder number 221. Thank you very much, sir!"

Celestina and Lester have mostly watched, now they nod. Siobhan continues with a few other items to give us an idea about the way to go about it.

"Okay, I think, I've got that. How long do you wait until you give the bid to someone?" Lester wants to know.

"Oh, that's up to you. I would go on fairly swiftly as we have a lot to sell in only two days. But you can tickle some further bids out sometimes. You'll have to develop a bit of feeling for it. Play with the 'you want to do it for Hogwarts' bit. Not too often, mind you, but if the bidding for one item is too slow, don't hesitate. It's for the benefit of our good old alma mater after all. I'll be there for further information about the goods if anyone should ask."

"Very well, we'll just have to see how this goes then..." Harry says.

We're all very tired, but we can finally go home. I return together with Harry and Hermione, who don't mind to use the Portkey as well. We find our way home and get some rest. Tomorrow the Great Hall will be open to the public the first time to come and view the items we sell and note down their interests if they have any, so I have to return to be there and welcome the guests. We also hope to register even more possible bidders.

"Do you want me to come along, love?" Sirius asks.

"Would be nice, Paddy, thanks," I mumble and fall asleep. 

**Saturday, 12.8.2000 / Sirius**

We eat breakfast without hurry and leave the children to Ginny and Ernie. Harry is coming along again to be around for a while now and then. We take the Portkey again and arrive at our flat in Hogwarts. We slowly walk over to the Great Hall, open the doors and fix them in position to stay open. Then we go over to the main entrance door and open it. It's ten o'clock and there are already people waiting outside, chatting or walking around. When they see that the door is open, they all come up the stairs. Remus, as the deputy headmaster welcomes them:

"Welcome back at Hogwarts. We have set up the exhibition in the Great Hall."

He conjures a big arrow marked with 'Exhibition' and sets it up in the Entrance Hall. The people move inside the Great Hall, where they walk around looking at the goods. Some, like the jewellery and the more valuable books we've set up behind glass. Some of us from the Hogwarts staff help them to examine things more closely if they wish to. The house elves have set up wooden walls on which all the paintings have been hung, some clocks and quite a lot of other decorative things, too. All the furniture has been placed in the back of the room. In the middle we have set up a lot of very mismatched, but comfy armchairs, sofas and chairs. Some house-elves offer little snacks. 

For hours we see people come in and inspect the merchandise. It's quite nice, because we get to talk to a lot of people. And I notice that I'm normally spending my time in a very protected social surrounding. I don't usually have much to do with the world outside of Hogwarts apart from the parents of my students who I have to contact sometimes or who contact me as the head of their children's house. Now I find myself in the midst of the general wizarding public as they parade through the Great Hall. Some of them still look at me suspiciously and I'm very glad that Remus is never far away from me. 

Minerva is there, too, and she is the perfect host, very attentive and confident in her dealings with all those people. Twice she saves me from someone who thinks it necessary to question what I'm doing in this place. Obviously most people don't know about my occupation. Minerva informs them about my position in her usual tone. 

While I watch her entertaining the guests with small-talk, I list the many reasons why I respect and love her as much more than my boss. 

Remus does his duty as the other host. I wonder how many of those people who react to his usual mild and soft-spoken manners with equal friendliness know about him being a werewolf. He even seems to enjoy himself and sparkles with his charm. It's hard to believe that the next full moon will be in just three days. 

"Remus used to look so tired a few days before the full moon..." a voice says behind me. 

"Oh, hello, James. - Yes, and that would normally give him away, but look at him. He's just fine!"

"Seems to have fun, too. He's gained so much confidence. I mean, he used to be confident about what he knew and could do, but only when he was with people he knew well, he'd never be this sparkling around strangers..." James remarks.

"Definitely not. But he doesn't have to hide anymore. Will you come to the auction?"

"You bet! Want to see how my son goes about playing the auctioneer!"

I grin. Of course he wants to see that. Like many of the wizarding folks coming through the Great Hall right now, I suppose. Harry isn't one to usually put himself in front of the public.

But even now he turns up and many people actually approach him. He's doing this for Hogwarts! I could hug him right here in the Great Hall in front of everyone. It's good to see him thawing a bit, he needs to accept that the people will probably always be interested in him and at times he needs to give some of the caring he gets from them back to them.

**Saturday, 19.8.2000 / Harry**

The past week has been more therapeutic for all of us than Sirius' and Remus' book project. We've been 'forced' to meet and mingle with most of the British wizarding public. I have to admit that I've found out that the average witch or wizard is a lot less prejudiced than most of my peers at Hogwarts were, at least in their opinions of my person. I've experienced a lot of attention this week, but so many people approached me in such a positive way that I've finally left my apprehensions against the public behind. After three days joining Sirius and Remus and the rest of the Hogwarts staff for the display of the goods to sell I've cried half the night in Hermione's arms, because I felt so humbled, but also good, because of all the friendly words I'd got from most of the people who talked to me. I've felt the warmth coming from them and the honesty in their words. Many also told me that they never believed the stupid articles in the Daily Prophet and that they liked my modesty about the whole Voldemort thing. Yet, they expressed their thankfulness. They have also taken away a lot of the guilty feelings that I still harboured because I actually took the life of a person, even if it was Voldemort.

These people never knew about the prophecy and its contents. They never knew I was doomed to be the one to face off Voldemort, but they had always felt that I was something special and was meant to be their saviour. Well, that's just what had built up the apprehension in me - many in the wizarding world had always believed it wasn't their cross to bear, so it wasn't up to them to do anything. Most had just tried to stay out. 

But I'm done with the bitterness. I don't know what made me go to Hogwarts this past week, but somehow I'm very glad I did. I'm not going to remain sitting in that prison of my own making anymore. I'll join the world from now on, much easier than I had so far. Life will be good!

Today is the first day of the auction. I really hope that the Great Hall will be packed with people and loads of them will bid. We've played that auctioneer's game for a while longer with changing 'staff' and finally Siobhan was happy with our performance, so we'll hopefully do well. 

Lester is the first auctioneer to go, then Dumbledore and tomorrow it will be Celestina's and then my turn. I'm still attending, together with the complete Sunnegg crowd, and we're occupying a large spot fairly in the middle of the Great Hall.

Siobhan certainly did a great job in splitting up the lots and having some star items more or less every hour of the sale. This means that people interested in a few of those would have to attend longer and hopefully also bid on something or other else. The actual auction starts at ten in the morning and there will be 138 items on Lester's list. We're all ready to help with incoming bids via Commumirror, which will be accepted, too, and to display the items again when they're sold. All of us do this free of charge of course, to get the most of the auction's income. People have to see to the transport of their items themselves.

Remus welcomes the guests.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, I'm very pleased that so many of you have found your way to this special auction here at Hogwarts! We'd like to thank headmistress Minerva McGonagall for hosting the event here and even enlarging our beloved old Great Hall to fit all of us in. Further preliminary thanks go out to our former headmaster Albus Dumbledore, who first viewed all the Gringotts vaults containing all these lovely goods. I have to tell you that this is only a small part of them, as Albus has taken the time and pains to find out who owned most of the other things that were found to make sure that the pieces were returned to their rightful owners. Among them of course were many portraits who have now been given back to their families. Also much work has been invested by Siobhan Quirke, who has been left to us by her employer Kenmore Antiques for free to inspect and evaluate the remaining goods. She has been a great source of knowledge about almost all of these antiques here, and she went to great lengths to find out more about certain items if she didn't know anything about them outright. 

"So I'd like to start it without further ado, if you are as ready as I am."

There's a lot of applause for Lester who then calls up the first item:

"We're starting this auction with a framed landscape by the wizarding artist Elizabeth Toleman. It was painted in 1683 after a visit of this witch to the newly renovated palace of Versailles. Inspired by the park there she painted this wonderful view of a French Baroque Garden. Due to the age and the near perfect condition, as well as the popularity of this artist, who is still well known to this day we think, we can start the bidding at a hundred Galleons... any takers at a hundred Galleons?"

I look around and see several number plaques go up. Lester goes on and on and the bidding finally ends at 839 Galleons for this painting. 

"That's not a bad start. Toleman was a very prolific artist. Almost every pureblood family had portraits executed by her. She lived from 1659 to 1828," someone in my vicinity tells a person sitting next to them. 

Sounds like a pureblood explaining that to a Muggle-born who has no idea about wizarding arts - like me. I didn't know much about any wizarding artists or musicians or even literates, apart from the school books I'd never cared too much for reading and it showed in a deplorable ignorance towards the wizarding cultural heritage on my part. The past week has taught me a whole lot about that, too. Siobhan was a great source of knowledge and she doesn't only know things about the wizarding antiques, I'd bet I could go through Muggle antique fairs and shops with her and she'd be talking for hours about what we'd see.

By noon Hogwarts had received over 5000 Galleons. I'm amazed at how gracious the people are. Many seem to really want some of the items and there's been some fierce bidding over a group of very lovely medieval candle holders, which do look nice if one tended to like the somewhat crude look they have. But they're made from solid gold, so the bidding went up to 1250 Galleons for the six candle holders. 

Lester's through his items by mid afternoon and Albus takes over. While Lester's been a very nonchalant auctioneer, Albus is really sparkling. He has a great ability to drive people on and several exclaim that he's really pushy with his 'all for Hogwarts' slogan. But of course Albus would be working for Hogwarts' interest, this school has practically been his life for almost ninety years and I'd say that each and every person in this room is more than aware of that. Of course one could also say that he was capitalising on this special relationship, since most of the people in the room have been his students at one time. But it's still fun to watch.

**Hermione**

I'm enjoying myself immensely. In fact I've bid for a couple of items, some candle holders and two mirrors. I ended up with one of the mirrors, but thanks to my bidding the price for the candle holders has been quite high! I was even ready to actually pay the price.

Draco is having his eye on a complete lounge set, containing of several wonderful 18th century upholstered chairs and sofas and three mahogany tables of different sizes. It's to be coming up later in the sale but it's still one of Albus' items. I'm pretty sure that some other people have interest in this very lot, too. Siobhan hasn't split it up, because it really does belong together.

Every item is levitated for everyone to see while it's auctioned away. The lounge set comes up at about nine in the evening.

"Next is a complete lounge set, 18th century, made by a wizarding carpenter who was associated with the great Thomas Chippendale himself. There are six upholstered chairs, two sofas and three mahogany tables in different sizes. It has stirred quite a lot of interest and people have left commission bids, which allows me to start the bidding at 630 Galleons. Any offers for 650?" 

I can see that there are at least thirty hands in the air. There must still be quite a lot of money going around the wizarding world, I think. About five Commumirrors are also in use. Albus can hardly follow his own counting as he points at people bidding. 

"1050... 1100... 1150... bid on the Commumirrors?" Albus counts.

There are still six people bidding in the room, Draco among them. Two of the Commumirror bidders have bowed out by now, but still there are nine people holding on.

"2500... 2550... Draco Malfoy... Florence?"

Florence whoever nods. Albus goes on:

"Kester? 2600, thank you... 2700?" 

Still there are plaques held up. Draco keeps at it, he really wants this piece for one room of his new house in France. It takes a long time, but finally, at 4200 Galleons the lounge set is his. He beams as Siobhan notes down his bidder number and the price for the furniture he's just bought.

"Wow, Draco! That's a majestic price for these things..." Parvati remarks.

"Well, see it that way: we've helped Hogwarts and at the same time we acquired precisely the kind of furniture that fits the small game room on the ground floor," Draco responds. "Plus I've had a really good look at it, it's in perfect condition and every bit of material on them is original."

"It's your money, love, you do with it as you please! And you're right, these pieces of furniture are really beautiful, so I don't mind them at all. They really do fit in that room well."

"You're wrong, sweetie, it's **our** money, not only mine. And there's more than you will ever be able to spend, so go ahead and spend it on your own!"

"Oh, don't I do well enough in that department already?" she teases with a grin.

"You'll never do enough in that department, love," Draco replies.

I have the faint idea that this is a familiar discussion between them.

But even Parvati can only buy so many clothes and accessories. She's perfectly good at wearing her clothes at least twice. I don't think she minds having married a rich man, but over all she's too down to earth to go overboard. 

I watch the auction again. Albus reaches his last item, a book I've had my eyes on, as it's a first edition of "Most Potente Potions", but there are again quite a lot of people bidding, and one of them is Snape. I could easily go on, but once only Snape and I are left, I look at him and give him the go ahead with a wave of my hand, so he gets the book. Still, it costs him a hefty 320 Galleons.

Many of the items in the Great Hall have gone for about two to fifteen Galleons, but with the bigger bits spread over the thirteen hours the auction has taken today, Hogwarts has now over 12'000 Galleons to put into its vault. I get into the line of people who have bought one or more items to pay for my purchase. When I take it over to Harry, he snorts:

"Oh dear, Hermione, are you aware that this is most likely a talking mirror?"

"Of course I am aware of that, Harry. I hope it's right critical, too!"

"Oh, you can certainly be sure of that, Missy! I'm going to teach that husband of yours how to make himself presentable, with time, you'll see!" the mirror croaks with a voice that tells me it hasn't been used for a long, long time.

"Glad to be back in service?" I ask the mirror.

"Oh, definitely. I even used to have a name, but it's been so long I've forgotten. You can give me any name you like..."

"We'll think of something. Now let's get you home!"

Which is what we do. Getting back home is nice, especially since Nevin is sleeping peacefully with Winky guarding him. She's actually asleep in the rocking chair next to Nevin's cot. I gently wake her and thank her:

"Thank you very much for looking after Nevin, Winky! Harry and I will take over and you may go to your own bed, which should make for a more comfortable sleep!"

"Thank you, ma'am. I is happy to look after the children..." she says in her squeaky voice.

"We know that and you do a wonderful job with all of them, Winky! Good night."

She takes leave and I throw a look into the cot with my sleeping son. He's so sweet! He's such a good mixture between Harry and I and I really hope I can give him a little sister or brother very soon. I leave the room after checking the baby alarm, then I join Harry up in our bedroom.

**Sunday, 20.8.2000 03:33am / Sirius**

It was a good idea to stay at our flat in Hogwarts. Dobby is taking care of the twins while Addie is mostly with us. She's crawling into our bed very early on this Sunday morning. That's something she hasn't ever done. While she's trying to get under the blankets next to me I'm waking up. I turn to the source of the disturbance, still groggy from sleep and notice that the intruder is my little sister. A quick glance at the alarm clock tells me it's half past three.

"Addie? What's up, love?"

"Siri... bad dream..." she whispers.

I let go of Remus and turn to her, to pull her close to me and comfort her with slow strokes over her back.

"Want to tell me?" I ask.

She shakes her head. I wonder what she could have dreamt that made her come to our bed! Probably about something that must have happened to her at Grimmauld Place...

"Siri, can you... could you pick my brain... you know, like you do yours? ... and put it in the Pensieve?" she asks all of a sudden. "And then... just look at it..."

Oh Merlin! Maybe she dreamt something about Father! 

"I could do that. But would you really want to see that again?" I ask.

She shakes her head.

"No, just you and Remus... and maybe auntie Lily and uncle James?"

"Okay, we'll do that soon, Addie. You come tell us when you're ready after you start school, okay?"

"Okay."

"Fine then, come, it's too early to be up, you need to go back to sleep, love."

"Can I... may I stay?" she asks timidly.

"Yes, of course you may."

I leave her a part of the pillow and pull up the duvet to cover her, too. Then I turn to her fully and she snuggles close.

"You're naked!" she observes.

"Well spotted, love. I always am when I'm sleeping," I reply with a grin.

"Oh. - Why?"

I sigh. Sexual education at half past three in the morning, while I'm totally naked in my bed is not the right time nor the right place, so I just tell her:

"Just take it as a fact and ask me again tomorrow if you remember. It's not the best moment to talk about things like that, Addie."

"You sleep naked and you're prudish!" she remarks, smirking.

"I'm not! I'm just the father of two extremely lively two year olds who needs his sleep! And you're an eleven year old who needs your sleep."

"Okay."

What a good child she is. She allows us to go back to sleep and soon I nod off, feeling a well known arm snaking around my waist. 

**Remus**

I wake up and find myself holding Sirius from behind. Usually he's the one holding me, so I'm a bit surprised. And then I detect a small body next to him and recognise Addie, who must have come to our bed during the night. Sirius stirs, too, and turns to me.

I kiss him.

"Morning, love..." he whispers.

"Morning! - What's Addie doing in our bed?"

"Oh, she came in around half past three and said something about a nightmare. I let her sleep here."

"Ah. I see."

No wake up sex then. Never mind.

She wakes up and nudges Sirius awake. I have to grin about her and don't even feel sorry for my mate. He takes it in good humour though.

"Morning, little one..." he says, yawning.

"Morning Sirius. Will you tell me now?" Addie squeals.

Sirius snorts. Then he sighs, looks down at her and explains:

"I share my bed with my most beloved, Addie, we need to feel each other's skin. That's why we sleep naked. Not very complicated, eh?"

"And you couldn't tell me that when I asked you?" she wants to know.

"Well, I wasn't in the mood to, to be honest, and I need my sleep, love. So be a sweetheart and let me sleep for just a little while longer?"

"Okay," she sighs, "I'm up already..."

While she closes the door I can't but think that there might be a little sex after all...

**Minerva**

I get up today knowing that we will have a wonderful auction day again. It was very nice yesterday, we really got on well and everything has been sold that was waiting for new owners. People have often been extremely gracious, knowing that every Knut would be for Hogwarts. I meet the staff members who are back from their holidays in the staff room, where we share our breakfast. It's very nice weather, all the windows are wide open. Addie comes dancing into the room and politely asks for a spot of breakfast.

"They're all still sleeping! What a lazy family I have!" she complains.

"They've worked quite a bit, Adara, we should give them an opportunity to recuperate, you know..." I say gently.

"I know. Only joking. But even the twins sleep, so neither Dobby nor Winky has been around yet to make breakfast."

"Then you should sit down at the table and help yourself to some food, dear."

She does so and tells me about the latest letter from her new friend, the Austrian girl who will start her first year in less than two weeks.

"We're going to pick them up at Heathrow on Wednesday morning. Then we'll spend time with them, so Toni can take the Polyglot potion and has time enough to learn English until she comes here."

"That's very nice. You will certainly enjoy having a friend around who's your own age."

"I will," she says happily, "But I'll go to Hogsmeade Primary anyway, so I'll meet other children. Madam Reeves already saw to it that I would join Natasha's class. Stacey is in there, too, so I already have two friends."

"Very good. So you aren't sad that you will have to wait for another year to start Hogwarts?"

"I'm not too happy about it, but I will probably be better off still learning a bit more, before I come here..."

Ravenclaw in the making. I throw a glance at Filius and just know he hopes to see this bright girl in his house. 

Remus and Sirius show up in the teachers' lounge half an hour before the auction starts. The whole team who was around during the past week gathers in the teachers' lounge. It's Celestina's turn to play the auctioneer. She's a very good moderator and her shows on the WWN are still among the best loved programs within the wizarding world. I expect a lot of people to come simply because she's here. And I expect the Hall to almost explode by the time Harry will take the podium. 

Harry has undergone quite the change during the past week. He's been in and out and he's learned to be at ease with people who admire him. He has never understood why people have seen so much in him. He has, and of course he's been right about it, always claimed that something that happened to him as a baby was not an achievement that had anything to do with his powers or abilities. He has repeatedly made angry comments that for him it only meant he lost his parents. But in the past week he must have learned that people don't only hero worship him, that his being so young and carrying such a burden on his little shoulders has meant the world to them. That there are many people out there who feel sympathy for him, not pity. I am so very glad that he's finally seen these people, too, not only the ones who exploit his fame. And I'm equally relieved that he has given the wizarding public a chance to meet his true self, the person almost all of his teachers and most of his peers saw and liked. 

I'm pretty sure that his last three years of school have brought him on the right way. And of course marrying the cleverest young witch of our days and having a child. Nevin has changed much in the lives of both of his parents. Hermione has softened down and has become a lot more flexible. Harry has gained a lot of confidence. I really like to see him with his little son. He carries Nevin into the lounge.

"Hello, everyone," he greets us.

We all shake hands. Hermione looks very good. She wears very proper robes, made from a fine flowing light blue silk. Her hair looks as untameable as ever, but she doesn't seem to care. 

"Hello, Harry, Hermione! It's nice to see you already."

"Most of the Sunnegg gang is already with us, we just came to see if you lot will come out of your hiding place soon..." Harry replies with a grin while changing a restless Nevin to his other arm. 

"We're getting ready to..."

Celestina welcomes everyone to the day's auction and then starts with the first few items. She has quite a bit to do and is very successful. She finally passes the auctioneer's stand to Harry in the afternoon.

By the time the last item has found a new home we have been able to add another 15'000 Galleons to the 12'000 we already made yesterday. People have mostly paid in cash, larger amounts are being paid to our Gringotts account. At ten in the evening Harry lets the gavel drop for the last item and half an hour later most of the guests have left the castle and we're already reducing the Great Hall to its normal size. Besides myself and our auctioneering team are only a few of my staff members and six of our school governors left. Galenicus Twizzle, a former Gryffindor who's probably almost as old as Albus and has always been his strongest supporter, is all smiles.

"I am so happy about this display of newly found wizarding solidarity with Hogwarts. I haven't seen that many people for at least thirty years. Must have been way before the first rise of this insufferable Dark Lord. It seems to me that today has shown that we can still work together and leave personal differences aside."

"I would have to agree. It is most pleasing to see that not everyone tries to force their own preferences, social or political, upon the others," agrees Mrs Avery.

"By the way, Minerva, how are you getting along with the plans for additional arts lessons?" asks Thaddeus Jolie, a former Ravenclaw from my own year, who is one of the three Ravenclaw school governors.

"Oh, we're still evaluating possible teachers. But the interest among the parents has been fairly impressive. I have received about two hundred letters of parents stating their opinions on the matter. We are now in the course of clearing the old Perseverance Tower in the east wing to gain the necessary rooms. There will be three floors of art studios, and six floors will be for the musical education, those will be fitted with smaller rooms, so that students can use them as practice rooms and teachers can use them to teach their lessons. So far I have two artists who are willing to teach classes on Saturdays and three music teachers, two for piano and one for violin, those will be around on two evenings a week each, teaching a number of lessons and supervising the practices."

"Very well. I'm glad to hear that. It will be good to see the music and arts returning to Hogwarts."

"I have greatly disregarded that, haven't I? Such are the troubles of a war leader. It is to my shame I have to admit that we simply couldn't go ahead with those artistic subjects any longer when Riddle started to gain power in the seventies. I love music so much and it pained me to neglect this part of our students' education," Albus remarks.

I know the sadness he's felt for that decision. It is one of the reasons that I wished to see it come back to us. Another reason is that our children get their heads filled with so much necessary theory, but their minds don't get taxed with the things that enrich our lives most, that it was high time we gave them the choice to learn something that would reach their souls and not only their brains.

"We know what you did, Albus, you should not chastise yourself too badly for this. The next few generations will have the chance again to learn more about music than the past two or three," Mr. Morrow intervenes.

This team of school governors has been very good throughout the past ten years. Of course it only got to be a real team after Lucius Malfoy had been thrown out and replaced by Mr. Kingsley, but from then on there was a lot of harmony in the group and they really worked together with Albus. It wasn't because of them that there were so many problems with some of our Defence against the Dark Arts teachers. I certainly am glad that Remus and Kate are now breaking the curse that lay on the job. It's now Remus' third year back on the team and Kate starts her second. I hope to keep them both for a long, long time.

I have a sudden idea:

"It would be lovely if we could invite some of you school governors to some of our regular feasts at Hogwarts, like the Welcoming feast or the one at the end of the school year or, in fact, at any time of the year you would like to come and take a look at the school. This way you'd get into a closer contact with the school, which will give you a better image of the day to day business and might help you with some of your decisions about the school," I offer.

Galenicus grins.

"Be careful what you wish for, Minerva! Remember that I knew you as a schoolgirl!"

Remus and Sirius turn to him and give him a most curious look. 

"Now, that's interesting - would you give us some insight, sir?" asks Sirius.

"I certainly will threaten her to tell stories, if I ever need a favour from your esteemed headmistress, gentlemen. She was quite the school terror you have to know."

I'm shocked! He's not going to let them know all of my well kept secrets! I'd never live it down if they knew how often I sneaked out of the school or that I probably knew some of their own tricks quite well in my time. But Thaddeus unfortunately starts to grin and also falls into my back.

"I do think, it would be fun to see how Minerva manages to keep the reins if we let a few of her pranks be known! She **was** a Gryffindor after all! And I have yet to meet a sensible Gryffindor."

"Try Hermione Potter," Sirius suggests immediately.

"Or Lily Potter for that matter..." Remus falls in.

"Can anybody tell me why two examples of sensible Gryffindors married Potters? That alone disqualifies them," Severus Snape objects.

He's stayed on after having bought three or four of the old books we've had in the auction today. Now he's still around, which amazes most of us, but he's been talking with Mr. Morrow and Mr. Kingsley about something. 

"You should be very quiet, Severus! I'm still holding a fairly huge grudge for how you treated your students and my son in particular!" Lily growls.

"Well, your brat has behaved exactly like your big headed husband, he deserved..."

"Shush! No fighting like little children anymore. You haven't ever given Harry a chance to be a normal child in one of your classes, you decided to single him out right in the first lesson, Severus, so don't complain. You could've had it a lot easier. I never had a problem with Harry in one of my lessons. He's never behaved badly. But that's not a topic now. You can fight that out somewhere else," I tell them. 

Lily has reason to hold a grudge on behalf of her son though. But this is not the time and place to fight it out. We finally wish each other a good night after another half hour and the castle is almost empty again.

**Tuesday, 22.8.2000 / Remus**

I spend a lot of time in the office today. Minerva still has a few music teachers to see and I take them to her office when they arrive. Next to that I'm replying to all the letters we have from parents who wish for their children to get a musical education. We have made a list of instruments that would be available. Shortly before noon Minerva comes to my office, takes a seat in one of the armchairs and says:

"Phew! I've seen about five of them! They're all a bit queer, Remus, I'm telling you! But I've actually accepted four of them to come and teach, next to the three we already have."

"So what instruments and how many places per instrument can we offer?"

"Let's see. There were two piano teachers that we already hired, now I add another two, and there will be another violin teacher, he said he could also teach violoncello and even contrabass if anyone should be interested. And the last one teaches the flute and the harp if needed."

"Okay, so four piano teachers. How many hours will they work?"

"Each will come on two full evenings from five to ten o'clock, giving six lessons all in all."

I calculate. Four teachers times twelve lessons will make for forty eight students they can take on. Very good. By Christmas we'll be able to start lessons up, I think.

"Okay, a maximum of 48 students for piano. At least 36 for violin and twelve for flute or harp. I will send this list to the interested parents and then we can get it running by Christmas, what do you think?"

"Even Halloween should be possible," she disagrees.

"Not too much of a problem. The children who will learn the violin will need their own instruments, so this part might take a bit longer."

"Fine. That one's settled then. We don't need to do anything about the contracts, all that hiring stuff is going to be Eliza's business. I just have to send her the names and addresses of the professors we're hiring. Will you be around in the next days?" she wants to know.

"Yes, of course. Sirius and Addie will be looking after our guests very well."

"Good. How many students are taking part of Sirius' Animagus lessons this year?"

Of course she wants to know that! She's only too happy that there will be a bunch of new Animagi in the coming years. And Sirius' success shows that it's one of the things that might be better learned while one is still young. I pick up the folder from Sirius' desk and look at the replies from students who can and want to take part. As usual the offer has been sent with the Hogwarts letter to those students who have scored an E or O on their OWL test in Transfiguration. 

"We sent 19 offers and received fourteen positive answers."

She breaks out laughing.

"What's in that number, Remus? It's Sirius' third course and it's the third time he gets fourteen students!" she remarks.

I have to laugh, too. It's true, and I haven't even noticed! Strange thing that.

Once I'm through with much of my work I rejoin my family and we move back to the Townhouse, where we'll spend the rest of our summer vacation. We expect the Hellers for the same length of time. They have been invited to our house and we see to it that it looks neat and welcoming for guests. Winky takes good care of that.

**Wednesday, 23.8.2000 / Sirius**

I take my children to the nearest Underground station and we ride the Tube to Heathrow Airport where we'll await the Hellers' arrival. Addie has only met Toni once, but the two girls have become friends immediately, and so she is all excited and looks forward to spending the next ten days with Toni. She's hopping up and down and runs around the waiting area until finally the flight comes up as landed. But it still takes an hour until the family comes through the doors from the baggage claim. Addie shoots off like a rocket to reach them first. I have the twins and follow a bit less hurriedly.

"...so good to see you again, Toni! I can't wait to get home!" I can hear Addie cry.

I greet Toni's parents, who have two fairly large suitcases and two or three smaller bags and suitcases on their trolley. Marlies has the stroller with little Florian.

"Hello, Sirius!" she greets me cheerfully.

"Hi Marlies! Nice to see you all again. Welcome to London."

"Thanks. Jürgen and I are happy about this vacation. It's been a long time since I've been to London the last time."

"I'm here on a fairly regular basis though. Hello, Sirius, it's very nice to see you again. Where's your partner?"

"He's a bit busy at Hogwarts during the day, but he's coming home every afternoon. We're usually living in Hogwarts, but we also have a large house here in London. Well, let's see that we're off then. We came here by regular Underground, but we'll leave in a more magical way."

"Oh - you're not waiting long to introduce us to this magical world of yours, eh?" Jürgen asks.

"No, there's no reason to have you working that hard with your baggage if we can have it nice and easy. Let's find one of the little lounges here..."

I lead them to another floor, where I take a way that regular visitors to Heathrow usually don't go. We reach a smallish room through a very unassuming door. 

"No Muggles can usually pass that door, unless they are with any wizarding folks like you are. In fact, you wouldn't even see this door if it weren't for us five. Now. Let's first make your baggage a bit easier to carry..."

I point my wand and reduce all of their baggage to matchbox size. Jürgen picks up the boxes and stuffs them into the pocket of his jacket. 

"Wow, how practical. What's next?"

He looks around and so does Marlies. There's nothing more in this room than a huge fireplace. On the mantel is a square open box filled with Floo powder. I explain them the procedure:

"We're travelling through fire here in England. I'm just quickly lighting one - Incendio! - and then all we need to do is determine who will go with whom. Marlies, I suggest that you should take your son and go with Addie and Toni. I take the twins and your husband. Just make sure you touch Addie, both of you."

Addie takes a good pinch of Floo powder and throws it into the fire. Then she steps in, beckoning Toni and Marlies to her. Marlies folds the stroller, which I reduce in size, then she holds Addie's arm, while Toni touches her other arm.

"Wow, that fire isn't even really warm!"

"It's because of the Floo powder, Mrs Heller," says Addie and continues, "Attention, we're going to spin like mad now! - Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!"

The three of them all vanish through the fireplace and Jürgen stares at it, totally baffled. I smile and ask:

"Would you hold Denny for me, please?"

"Sure! Come here, young man! You're a cute little fellow, Denny!"

"Okay. Now another pinch of that powder, then we can step inside of the grate."

We do so and he holds on to my arm. I call our destination and we spin around for several minutes, but then we reach our place. We fall out of the fireplace and I manage to stay upright and almost hold Jürgen upright as well. He does find himself on his behind though. 

"Wow! Now I'm dizzy!" he moans.

"That will pass quickly. Think of the advantages: we've just crossed London and abbreviated a way of about an hour to three minutes."

"I'll say nothing more!" he promises and grins.

Once everyone is up again we can bring their baggage to its normal size and I serve Toni the prepared Polyglot potion. She looks at it with a weary face, but Addie urges her:

"Come on, drink it! Then I can talk English to you and you learn it in the next days."

Toni swallows the potion and makes a face.

"Eeeurgh! That was pretty awful!"

"That's fairly typical for potions, I'm afraid, Toni. I suppose it's so we only take the ones we really need," I inform her.

"May I show Toni her room, Sirius?" asks Addie.

"Of course! Off you run, you two! Have fun!" I allow them.

Addie pulls Toni up the stairs.

"This house looks huge! And freshly renovated, eh?" Jürgen asks.

"If it weren't renovated I wouldn't have brought you people here. It's a house with a very, very dark and not pleasant at all past. In fact it's been the house of my ancestors for way over two hundred years. The Blacks are actually one of the two or three oldest wizarding families in Britain. And they have traditionally looked down on everyone who did not have this very exquisite blood of theirs. As you can take from my tone I do not follow this family tradition. And to break with it I have completely and utterly changed this house, so I will not be reminded too much of my horrible childhood here."

"I understand. But it does look beautiful now," Marlies finds.

"Yes, we really like it very much now. Now. May I ask you to speak only English with Toni for the next few days? The potion she has just taken enables her to learn the language in the next week. All the while Addie will help her to learn to not only understand and speak, but also to read and write it."

"We will do that then."

"Very well. - Winky!"

Winky comes flying and I present her the guests:

"This is Winky, our helper. She's a house-elf, but we regard her as a friend and helper of the family. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask her. She loves to be of help. Winky, these are Mr. and Mrs Heller, and their little son Florian. Their daughter Toni will come to Hogwarts in a few days and she's gone upstairs with Addie. I'm going to show the Hellers their room and then we would like to have lunch, okay?"

"Very much okay, master Black! You can leave Seraina and Denny with me if you like." 

"That's very nice, thank you. Go with Winky, dears! I'll be right back!"

The twins follow Winky to the kitchen without any problem. They really like their minder. And Winky loves them!

"You can give her Florian any time, too, if you prefer to leave him at home. He'll be fine with Winky and the twins," I offer the Hellers.

Then I take them to their rooms. I levitate their suitcases up the stairs and take them to the second floor, where we have three guest rooms. Winky has prepared one for Marlies and Jürgen and one for Florian right next to his parents'.

"We've thought that maybe Toni would be happy to bunk with Addie..."

"Oh, she was looking forward to seeing Addie for days now! She'll be delighted, I'm sure," Marlies confirms.

It turns out that it is precisely what the two girls have wanted. I give them time to spend with each other in the afternoon. We stay at home and watch the children play while I show the Hellers the house and photos of Hogwarts.

**Saturday, 26.8.2000 / Remus**

We're taking the children and the Hellers shopping at the Diagon Alley. We leave the twins to Winky and Lily comes by to help looking after the three little ones. 

"Hi Lily! You're coming right on time!" Sirius calls.

The Hellers look at Lily and of course they're shocked.

"May I introduce you to our old school friend Lily Potter? She's Harry's mum. Well, she's a ghost, but she's still got all of her magic and she can really look after our twins well. Lily, these are Marlies and Jürgen Heller."

"I've heard about you coming. I'm very pleased to meet you. Can't offer much of my hand, you'd just grip cold, moist air because I'm a ghost. My husband James is coming, too, but he's late as usual."

Lily is her usual cheerful self.

"Sickeningly happy for a ghost, isn't she?" I ask and grin.

"Rather... well, I've never met a real ghost before, so I can only say, pleased to meet you, too, Mrs Potter..."

"Lily, please... that Mrs Potter thing still makes me feel awfully old! I'm only 21 after all."

Can't believe that Lily plays with that stupid joke, too! When James comes in, I call for Addie and Toni.

"If you want to come to Diagon Alley, then you had better come down!" I call.

Two little rockets come bounding down the staircase. Both have dressed up and wear their best jeans and blouses. 

"Well, all attention is on you today, so the twins and Florian stay at home! Let's go!"

Sirius opens the front door and lets the guests and the children outside. I follow and he closes the door again. It's just a short walk to the nearest Tube station Chancery Lane. Just two stops later we go back out and reach Charing Cross Road.

"One of the busiest London streets hides the entrance to your world?" Jürgen asks, amazed.

"It does. We're getting there in a moment," I reply.

We have to walk for a bit and cross the street, before we pass the record shop, which now sells CDs, where Sirius stops. Marlies and Jürgen look around and see nothing special. But Toni's face lights up immediately and she pulls her father on his sleeve.

"Look, Papa! It's this pub here!"

"Pub? What pub? I don't see any pub here. Over there on the other side of the road is one..."

"Here is one, too, can't you see it? It's called the 'Leaky Cauldron'," Toni insists.

But we have to drag the two Muggles inside of the pub before they can finally see it. As soon as we pass the door it gets dark and we have to adjust to the lack of natural light. Only very little comes through the rather dingy little windows. The guest rooms above are friendly and bright, but down here in the pub the tiny windows hardly let in any light. Some of the tables are occupied, there are two or three people at the bar and Tom, the old barkeeper looks up as he always does when people come in from the street outside to the Muggle world. He recognises us and lifts his right hand in a greeting wave. When we pass his counter, he says:

"Remus - Sirius! Nice to see you! Are these two lovely young ladies new students for Hogwarts?"

"Hello, Tom. This one here will have to wait for another year, but this lovely young lady actually will start Hogwarts in ten days. She's Toni Heller. Toni, this is Tom, our barkeeper. He's been here forever, but he will probably last for a while still. Tom is probably the person who knows the largest part of the wizarding world, he sees them passing here every day. If ever you should come here on your own, Jürgen or Marlies, he will help you get to Diagon Alley, because you won't be able to go there on your own..."

"Well, I don't think I'd even try, I didn't even see it now, did I?"

"You might not have seen it now, but we've shown you. Next time, even when we leave Diagon Alley you will see it," I promise.

"Wow. So where **is** Diagon Alley?" Marlies wants to know.

Addie is already on the way to the back door, giving Tom a cheerful wave. Toni follows her and we reach them in the backyard. Toni's face shows so much disappointment, it is too funny.

"What are we doing here? It's nothing but a dirty backyard!" she protests.

Sirius pulls his wand and smirks. He taps the right brick three times and the separating of the wall as we've seen so many times takes place and it still amazes us. Toni stares with an open mouth and that's not even beginning to describe the wonderment on her parents' faces. 

The usual paths are followed. To Marlies and Jürgen we explain a bit of the history and some of the shops that look the strangest to them. I ask Toni:

"Now then, Toni, do you have your list with you?"

"Of course, Professor," she giggles and pulls the list out of her pocket. "So where do we start?"

"Trunk," says Sirius. 

He pulls us straight to the shop with magical travel aids where we choose a big trunk for Toni, complete with casters, so it can be pulled. Apart from that it's just like any other regular old trunk, finely hand carved and painted. It's charmed so it will always have enough space to just allow a little bit more than has been packed.

"Wow, it weighs near to nothing!" Toni remarks when she pulls it out of the shop.

"Permanent featherweight charm on it then," I remark, "That's really good if you have to take it to the train. It will be a bit of a problem for you to take it to the airplane when you return home, so your parents might consider leaving a few larger suitcases here, so you can repack next summer before returning home to Vienna."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Marlies agrees. "It does look beautiful, but it won't be practical for our way of travelling."

"Okay, then let's fill this trunk - or try to fill it," Sirius declares with a grin. 

Addie slips her hand into his. With the other she points to the opposite side of the street. There's Madam Malkin's robes shop and that's our first stop. We step inside. Madam Malkin greets us with a huge smile.

"Welcome, gentlemen! Do you need a Hogwarts equipment?" she asks.

"Not for our Addie yet, but she needs blue Hogsmeade Primary robes. And this young lady here, Toni Heller from Vienna will need her Hogwarts robes," I explain.

"With pleasure. Would you please come over to the fitting room? We have three more students waiting to be fitted, so it may take a while."

"That's okay, we have loads of time today."

"That's perfect. So you are coming all the way from Vienna to go to Hogwarts? What a brave young lady you are, miss!"

Toni stares at the old shop owner with a bit of a curious glance. Madam Malkin wears very lovely dark purple robes with all the insignia of her trade dangling everywhere, measuring tapes, scissors, even needles, which are stuck to her front, though for most of her sewing she never takes a needle to the fabric. She has her usual smile for every one of her customers.

One of the two boys on the little dais who gets fitted, looks at Addie and Toni. He asks them:

"Hogwarts?"

Addie shakes her head and says:

"Only Toni. I have to wait for another year."

"Hi Toni. I'm Basil Flushing. I'm going to be a first year, too. My mum's just busy getting my potions stuff, to save a bit of time. Know what house you'll get into?"

Sirius and I keep to the background and watch how the children get to make their first Hogwarts acquaintance. Toni has understood the question, but still looks at Addie to give a reply. She can't talk very well yet. Addie tells Basil:

"She doesn't have a preference. She'll see what the hat says."

"Can't she reply on her own? And hey, what hat? Don't tell me you actually know how we're sorted?"

Addie puts her hand on her mouth. I look at Remus and we grin. Seems that there are still a lot of parents who like to keep that particular little bit a secret. 

"You don't know? Well, then I won't say anything else. Sorry about Toni, she's only just had the Polyglot potion yesterday, so she can understand, but not yet speak English well. By the time you're on the train she'll be fluent though."

"Oh, come on! Do tell! My mum made a terrible secret out of it and told me that if I knew before I'd fall down dead. But you seem to know and it doesn't seem to affect you. Or are you Muggle born?"

"No! I'm even from a pureblood family. But Toni is Muggle born. She's from Vienna. So what house do you want to be in?"

"Gryffindor! All my family has almost always been in Gryffindor. If you're from an old family you'll probably go to Slytherin then? Shame, because you seem to be nice," the boy says and sounds sorry.

"Well, most of my family has been, but my big brother over there was a Gryffindor and he's now the head of Gryffindor house, so you'd better be nice if you want to go into his house. And I really hope I don't go to Slytherin!"

Basil's head turns into Sirius' direction and he blushes. The witch fitting his robes tells him to stand still for a moment, but he still cranes his neck to get a look at Sirius. He looks at Addie again and whispers:

"Is it true that he's Sirius Black, who's been to Azkaban and got out?"

"Yep. True." 

"I'm not so sure I want to go to Gryffindor then..."

"Don't worry, he's really nice. He's my brother after all!"

I have to grin. That's a reason to trust Sirius for sure! I can see that Toni grins about that, too. She's the next to go and gets her Hogwarts robes fitted. She looks over to us and asks:

"Is that all we get to wear?"

"All in terms of the school uniform. As soon as you are sorted into your house your robes will get the crest of your house - the house elves will do that for you and your next robes you can just tell Madam Malkin which house. But underneath you can put on whatever you like. Your mum has certainly packed warm things for you, which is recommended, because it can be terribly draughty and cold in winter. The common and class rooms and your dormitories will be cosy warm though," Sirius tells her.

"Oh, I see. That's okay then." 

If the robes shop has been fun it gets to be a lot more fun in Flourish & Blotts. Addie and Toni are off to look for Toni's books first, while Sirius gets the help of a staff member to get Addie's books for the school year at the Hogsmeade Primary. When the girls return with their pile of books we can easily see that they have gathered a few more than necessary, but neither Jürgen nor Marlies breaks a sweat because of the many books. They just calmly pay for them and Toni happily piles them into her trunk. 

One shop after the other gets visited. Finally, Toni gets equipped with her wand. Addie is quite jealous and nags:

"Can't I have mine a little early, Sirius? Please!!!" 

Sirius shakes his head and grins. They reason for a while, but finally Sirius decides it by explaining:

"Addie, what if your wand is one that Mr. Ollivander only makes in the course of the next year? Just imagine that this would mean you might have second best, only because you were impatient! Besides you cannot have one early, because you're not allowed to use it yet anyway. And that's final until next summer, so don't try to bring it up after your birthday, young lady!"

Addie pouts, but Sirius doesn't give in to her demands. I'm glad that he can be firm when he needs to. Addie has wrapped him around her little finger, but he still sees the need to bring her up within limits. We give her everything she needs and a bit beyond graciously and we like doing it, but she has to know that she is still a child and we're the adults responsible for her. 

"Mama, can I have a pet? It says in the letter that we're allowed to bring a pet. I'd love my own owl!" Toni pleads.

"I don't see any reason why you shouldn't have an owl, if that's what other magical children get..." Jürgen complies.

So we head on to Eeylop's Owl Emporium where Toni chooses a greyish male barn owl. While we're returning to the Townhouse the girls argue over the name for the owl. Sirius gives it a look, grins and suggests:

"I'd call him Sleepyhead! Looks like a bit of a lazy one to me..."

"Sirius!" Addie protests. 

But against all odds, Toni looks at the owl and decides:

"Sleepy. That's enough. He does look like he enjoys a good sleep, doesn't he?"


End file.
